WITH  THE  TURKS  IN  THRACE 


iPhoto  S.  Ashinead-BartUtt 

Savinc;  the  Guns  after  the  Batti.k  of  Lule  Burgas. 


WITH  THE  TURKS 

IN  THRACE  By  ELLIS 
ASHMEAD-BARTLETT 

SPECIAL  CORRESPONDENT  OF  THE  LONDON  "DAILY 
TELEGRAPH  "  Author  of  "PORT  ARTHUR,  THE 
SIEGE   AND  CAPITULATION,"  "THE   PASS- 
ING   OF    THE    SHEREEFIAN    EMPIRE" 
In      Collaboration     with    SEA  BURY 

ASHMEAD-BARTLETT 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW   YORK         MCMXIII 
GEORGE   H.  DORAN   COMPANY 


V 


Printed  in  England 


PREFACE 

This  book  is  intended  as  a  record  of  those  dramatic 
days  my  brother  and  myself  passed  with  the  Turkish  Army 
in  Thrace  during  the  battle  of  Lule  Burgas  and  in  the 
subsequent  retreat  on  the  lines  of  Chataldja.  I  have 
to  acknowledge  my  great  indebtedness  to  him  for  the 
assistance  he  has  given  me  in  writing  parts  of  it,  and  also  in 
preparing  it  for  publication. 

My  thanks  are  also  due  to  the  Daily  Telegraph  for 
allowing  me  to  reproduce  articles  which  originally  appeared 
in  its  columns. 

Since  the  last  chapter  was  in  print  the  revolt  of  the  Young 
Turkish  party  against  Kiamil's  Government,  because  of  its 
decision  to  surrender  Adrianople  to  the  Bulgarians — fore- 
shadowed in  the  last  chapter — has  actually  taken  place,  and 
Nazim  Pasha,  the  late  Minister  of  War,  and  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Army,  has  been  assassinated. 

Whether  the  Young  Turks  will  endeavour  to  carry  on 
the  war  only  the  future  can  show,  but  all  the  arguments  set 
forth  in  the  concluding  chapter  against  such  a  course  of 
action  still  hold  good,  and  a  revolution  in  Constantinople  in 
no  wise  alters  the  strategical  and  financial  objections  to  a 
renewal  of  the  campaign.  Turkey's  European  Provinces 
and  the  fortress  of  Adrianople  are  irrevocably  lost,  and  any 
effort  to  regain  them  can  only  lead  to  further  disasters. 

E.   ASHMEAD-BARTLETT.  . 

London  :  January  26/A,  1913. 

V 

258377 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I    Watting  for  the  War  1 


II  Scenes  in  Constantinople  12 

III  The  Efforts  of  Diplomacy  22 

IV  The  Military  History  of  the  Turks  29 
V  The  Modern  Turkish  Army  50 

VI  The  Authorities  and  the  Correspondents  59 

VII  The  Early  Operations  77 

VIII  Departure  of  the  Correspondents  for  the  Front     93 

IX  My  Journey  to  Chorlou  108 

X  My  First  Meeting  with  Abdullah  120 

XI  Lule  Burgas— The  First  Day  139 

XII  Lule  Burgas — The  Second  Day                        ^  152 

XIII  The  Rout  171 

XIV  How  WE  Sent  the  Story  of  the  Battle  182 
XV  The  Retreat  from  Chorlou  to  Chataldja  203 

XVI  The  Migration  of  a  People  217 

XVII  The  Capture  of  Rodosto  229 


XVIII    The  Chocolate  Soldier  242 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

XIX  The  Cholera  250 

XX  The  Attack  on  Chataldja  263 

XXI  The  Turn  op  the  Tide  278 

XXII  The  War  Against  the  Correspondents  292 

XXIII  The  Future  op  the  Turks  313 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Saving  the  Guns  after  the  Battle  of  Lule  Burgas  Frontispiece 


Constantinople 

facing  page 
10 

Nogi  and  Abdullah,  our  two  Saddle  Horses,  with  Hadji, 
the  Albanian  Groom 

18 

feefugees  on  the  March 

26 

Our  Cart  with  Bryant  and  Beavor 

36 

A  Turkish  Colonel 

36 

Retreating  from  Lule  Burgas  along  the  Roman  Road 

44 

Greek  Villagers  and  our  Motor-car 

60 

The  Track  to  Stamboul 

68 

Overturned  Train 

68 

Nazim  Pasha,   Minister    for  War,   leaving  the  Sublime 

Porte  on  the  Eve  of  Hostilities  74 

Refugees'  Train  Overturned  at  Seidler  96 

Our  Tent  at  Chorion  106 

Mr.  Ashmead-Bartlett's  Motor-car  being  pulled  out  of  a 

Rut  by  Men  112 

Turkish   Infantry    driven   out   of   Lule   Burgas    by   the^ 

Bulgarians  142 

Plan  of  the  Battle  of  Lule  Burgas  page  143 

facing  page 
Artillery  advancing    to    support   the  hard-pressed  2nd 

Army  Corps  at  Lule  Bui^as  154 

The  Turkish  Retreat  162 

Retirement  of  the  2nd  Army  Corps  at  Lule  Burgas  168 

Wounded  Turkish  Soldiers  in  Bullock  Wagons  172 

Passing  the  Bridge  at  Chorlou  after  the  rout  of  Lule 

Burgas  176 

A  Halt  during  the  Retreat     '  184 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

facing  p 

Crossing  the  Bridge  at  Chorlou  194 

The  Camp  of  the  Routed  Army  at  Cherkeskeuy  204 

Turkish  Artillery  Leaving  the  Field  of  Lule  Burgas  212 

Refugees  224 

Train  Crowded  with  Refugees  and  Soldiers  escaping  from 

the  Front  234 

Artillery  on  the  March  244 

Victims  of  Cholera  258 

Mr.  Ashmead-Bartlett  and  Mr.  Martin  Donohoe,  of  the 
Daily  Chronicle,  with  an  Armenian  Priest,  in  whose 

house  they  stayed  at  Aya  Yorgi  260 

A  Trench  hastUy  built  by  the  Turks  at  Chataldja  268 

The  Trenches  at  Chataldja  280 

Waiting  for  the  Bulgarians  at  Chataldja  280 

Turkish  Soldiers  Saving  their  Wounded  Captain  290 

The  Turks  Retreating  from  Lule  Burgas  302 

Soldiers  and  Refugees  Escaping  from  Lule  Burgas  310 

Map  of  Thrace  at  end  of  volume 


With  the  Turks  in  Thrace. 


ERRATA 

PAGE  LINE 

34        24    for  Mahomed  II  read  Mahmoud  II. 

283         16    for  Erzeroum  r^od  Erzerum. 

91         26 'i 

I  ^'^  Karagac  rmd  Karagach. 

274         28    f(yr  Kuyuk  read  Kuchuk. 


Before  the  Volume  was  completely  passed  for  press  Mr.  Ellis  Ashmead- 
Bartlett  was  forced  to  return  to  Constantino}jle.  The  Publisher  asks  for 
indtdgence  if  the  traiiditeratio7is  of  Turkish  names  vary  here  and  there,  especially 
between  text  and  map. 


CHAPTER  I 

WAITING   rOR   THE   WAR 

I  HAD  just  returned  from  the  great  French  manoeuvres  in 
Touraine  when  the  outlook  in  the  Balkans  became  threaten- 
ing. There  I  had  followed  the  operations  of  five  Army- 
Corps,  and  had  seen  them  handled  with  machine-like  pre- 
cision, controlled,  fed,  and  concentrated  with  such  ease  that 
war  was  made  to  appear  a  ridiculously  easy  game.  Over- 
head seventy  aeroplanes,  assisted  by  dirigibles,  kept  the 
opposing  commanders-in-chief  fully  informed  from  hour 
to  hour — one  might  almost  say  from  minute  to  minute — of 
every  fresh  disposition  of  the  enemy's  forces,  until  many 
eminent  critics  declared  that  anything  in  the  nature  of 
grand  strategy  or  of  a  surprise  was  eliminated  from  war  for 
ever,  and  that  the  battles  of  the  future  would  be  won  by  the 
side  which  could  concentrate  the  greatest  number  of  troops  at 
a  given  point  and  strike  home  first.  "  The  age/'  they  declared, 
"  of  the  gi-eat  general  is  gone ;  battles  will  now  be  lost 
or  won  by  the  station-masters  along  the  main  lines  of  com- 
munication to  the  front." 

There  is  doubtless  a  great  deal  of  truth  in  this.  Never- 
theless we  were  reminded  that  surprises  might  still  occur 
by  an  incident  on  the  last  day  of  the  first  period  of  the 
manoeuvres,  when  General  Marion,  the  commander-in-chief 

B 


2  t#ttf¥Hfi  TURKS   IN  THRACE 

of  the  Army  of  the  East,  together  with  the  whole  of  his 
staff,  and  his  Corps  Artillery,  were  captured  during  the  battle 
fought  round  Craon  by  two  brigades  of  Blue  Cavalry  under 
the  command  of  General  Dubois.  This  incident  showed  that 
mistakes  will  happen  even  in  the  most  highly  organised  and 
scientific  armies,  and  that  there  is  still  scope  for  the  in- 
dividual brain  of  a  commander  to  seize  the  psychological 
moment  and  change  the  fortunes  of  the  day  by  a  brilliant 
coup  de  main.  To  outward  observation  the  five  French 
Army  Corps  in  Touraine  were  manoeuvred  with  consum- 
mate ease,  yet  the  machinery  which  guided  and  controlled 
them  was  of  an  extremely  delicate  construction,  and, 
should  a  hitch  have  occurred  anywhere,  the  whole  complex 
organisation  was  liable  to  be  thrown  out  of  gear. 

I  recall  how  often  it  was  remarked  by  critics  how  hopeless 
a  modern  army  would  be  unless  its  organisation  were  perfect ; 
how  it  would  flounder  about,  its  units  without  cohesion  and 
hopelessly  intermixed ;  its  supply  trains  gone  astray,  and  how 
finally  it  would  blunder  up  against  the  enemy's  position 
without  having  any  definite  objective  to  attack,  its  weight  of 
numbers  entirely  lost  by  lack  of  co-operation.  Little  did  I 
think  at  the  time,  that  within  a  month  I  would  find  myself 
with  just  such  an  army,  and  take  part  in  the  most  crushing 
defeat  of  modern  times. 

On  Monday,  September  30th,  I  returned  to  London  from 
a  visit  to  the  country  to  find  urgent  messages  from  IVIr. 
Harry  Lawson  to  come  down  to  the  office  of  the  Daily 
Telegraph  immediately.  I  went  there  and  was  instructed 
to  hold  myself  in  readiness  to  start  at  a  moment's  notice  for 
Constantinople  to  join  the  Turkish  Army  in  the  event  of 
war  breaking  out  in  the  Balkans.  I  will  not  relate  in  detail 
here  the  contradictory  rumours  of  peace  and  war,  which 
kept  the  whole  civilised  world  in  a  ferment  of  hopes  and 
fears  for  the  next  fortnight,  before  little  Montenegro  finally 


IN  SUSPENSE  3 

threw  down  the  gauntlet  and  commenced  the  Twentieth 
Century  crusade  against  the  Turk  without  waiting  for 
her  aUies.  On  Tuesday,  October  1st,  I  spent  most  of  the 
day  at  the  Daily  Telegraph  office  waiting  for  the  latest  news 
from  the  Near  East  and  hesitating  whether  to  commence 
my  preparations  or  to  wait  just  one  day  longer  in  case 
events  should  take  a  favourable  turn.  On  Wednesday, 
October  2nd,  I  received  an  express  letter  telling  me  to  come 
down  to  the  office  without  a  moment's  delay  and  on 
arriving  there  I  was  informed  by  Mr.  Le  Sage,  the 
Managing  Editor,  that  I  must  start  that  very  night  for 
Constantinople,  as  the  prospects  of  preserving  peace  now 
seemed  hopeless. 

These  days,  and  I  have  known  many  in  my  time,  when 
one  has  to  rush  off  to  a  far  distant  land  at  a  moment's 
notice,  pass  in  a  whirl  of  things  remembered  and  things 
forgotten.  You  seem  to  crowd  into  twelve  hours  the 
concentrated  effiDrts  of  a  week,  and  then,  when  you  are 
finally  seated  in  the  train  and  hope  to  obtain  a  few  hours  for 
calm  reflection,  you  invariably  find  you  have  forgotten  to  do 
many  of  the  most  important  things  you  had  thought  of 
earlier  in  the  day,  and  have  also  left  behind  numberless 
articles  which  you  imagine  will  be  of  supreme  importance  to 
you  at  the  front. 

At  five  that  afternoon  1  happened  to  meet  my  brother 
Seabury,  and  said  to  him,  "  I  am  off  at  nine  to-night  for 
Constantinople."  He  replied,  "  I  wish  I  were  going  too." 
I  said,  "  Why  don't  you  come  ?  It  may  be  worth  your 
while ;  once  you  are  on  the  spot  I  am  sure  I  could  get 
you  a  job  with  some  paper,  although  you  have  not  had 
any  previous  experience,  or  in  any  case  I  am  sure  to 
need  an  assistant  and  you  might  be  very  useful."  For 
some  time  he  hesitated,  but  finally  made  up  his  mind  to 
come  with  me  and  rushed  off  to  pack  a  few  clothes.     He 

b2 


4     WITH  THE  TURKS  IN  THRACE 

would  never  have  hesitated,  had  he  known  the  dramatic 
events  which  were  in  store  for  us  both  before  the  month 
had  expired. 

At  nine  p.m.  on  Wednesday,  October  2nd,  we  left 
Charing  Cross  for  Paris  and  spent  the  following  day  there. 
We  learnt  from  Cook's  that  the  line  to  Constantinople  via 
Sofia  had  been  taken  over  by  the  Bulgarian  Military 
Authorities,  and  that  the  last  Orient  Express  had  passed 
through  the  day  before.  We  had,  therefore,  to  travel 
out  to  Constantinople  via  Constanza,  in  Roumania,  passing 
through  Vienna  and  Bucharest,  and  from  Constanza  to 
take  the  steamer  to  Constantinople.  We  found  every  seat 
in  the  Orient  Express  booked  as  far  as  Vienna,  and  were 
obliged  to  take  an  intermediate  train  as  far  as  the  Austrian 
capital. 

As  we  had  a  few  hours  to  spare  in  Paris,  we  went  to 
call  on  M.  Normand,  the  editor  of  IVie  Illustratio7i,  for 
whose  paper  I  had  written  an  article  the  year  before  on  the 
*'  Massacre  in  the  Oasis "  on  my  return  from  the  Italian 
campaign  in  Tripoli.  M.  Normand,  a  handsome  black- 
bearded  man  with  a  clever,  alert,  humorous  face,  received  us 
in  his  office,  which  was  superbly  decorated  in  the  style  of 
Louis  Quinze  and  looked  less  like  the  dreaded  editorial  lair 
than  a  lady's  boudoir.  He  greeted  us  with  great  polite- 
ness saying,  **  M.  Ashmead-Bartlett,  je  suis  enchante  de 
vous  revoir,  bien  que  votre  article  sur  les  atrocites  Italiennes 
en  Tripolitaine  nous  ait  perdu  six  cents  abonnes  en  Italic, 
et  qu'on  ait  meme  brule  rillust?'atio?i  sur  les  places  pubhques. 
Mais,  M.  Bartlett,"  the  editor  went  on  with  a  serious  air, 
*'  il  y  a  encore  pire — le  Saint  Siege  a  mis  T Illusti'ation  sur 
rindex."  He  ended  up  with  a  magnificent  gesture  ex- 
pressive of  mingled  horror  and  amusement. 

At  five  o'clock  we  left  Paris  for  Vienna.  As  we  had  no 
time  to  complete  our  packing  in  a  scientific  manner,  we  had 


SUSPICIOUS   TEUTONS  5 

with  us  in  the  carriage  a  miscellaneous  collection  of  bags 
and  packages,  including  a  tent  in  a  canvas  bag  and  a  saddle 
wrapped  up  in  a  sack.  Our  belongings  completely  filled  up 
a  first-class  compartment,  rendering  it  impossible  for  any 
other  would-be  passengers  to  enter.  All  went  well  as  long 
as  we  were  in  France,  the  officials  being  prescient  of  the 
pourboii^e  which  was  certain  to  arise  from  the  chaos 
around   us. 

The  situation,  however,  changed  for  the  worse  as  soon 
as  we  crossed  the  German  frontier.  A  horde  of  fat  but 
alert-looking  officials  gathered  in  the  doorway,  contem- 
plating with  mingled  suspicion  and  horror  the  amount  of  our 
hand  baggage,  which  included  a  typewriter,  a  suit-case,  a 
hat-bag,  a  Gladstone  bag,  a  rug-strap  and  a  dispatch  box,  as 
well  as  the  saddle  and  tent.  "  JVIein  Gott,  how  many  pas- 
sengers are  there  for  all  this  baggage  ?  "  asked  one  of  them. 
We  replied, "  Two."  "  Is  such  a  thing  possible  ? "  he  faltered. 
Then,  after  a  few  minutes'  conversation  with  his  companion, 
his  face  lighted  up  and  he  said,  "  Have  you  the  first  class  ? " 
We  realised  we  were  objects  of  intense  suspicion.  The 
flaxen-haired,  vicious-looking  conductor  gazed  in  anticipated 
triumph  at  the  disreputable-looking  packages  containing  our 
tent  and  saddle.  He  was  sure  that  such  travellers  could  only 
have  second-class  tickets,  and  when  we  proved  the  contrary 
he  was  keenly  disappointed.  Then,  after  another  guttural 
conversation  with  his  companions,  he  asked,  "  Are  you 
Enghshmen  ? "  "  Yes,"  we  replied.  A  look  of  under- 
standing brightened  up  their  heavy  Teutonic  faces.  Later 
on  another  conductor  came  and  eyed  the  tent  and  saddle 
with  suspicion.  "  You  should  not  bring  meat  with  you  into 
a  first-class  compartment,"  he  said.  "  Meat  ?  "  we  answered, 
in  astonishment.  "  Yes,"  he  answered,  "  have  you  not  got  a 
ham  in  that  sack  ? " 

On  Friday,  October  4th,  we  reached  Vienna,  where  we 


6  WITH    THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

were  obliged  to  break  our  journey,  as  the  train  for  Constanza 
did  not  leave  until  the  following  evening.  We  stopped  at 
the  Bristol  Hotel,  and  found  several  well-known  war  cor- 
respondents already  there,  likewise  bent  on  reaching 
Constantinople.  I  was  delighted  to  find  amongst  others  my 
old  friends  Lionel  James,  of  The  Times,  and  M.  H.  Donohoe, 
of  the  Daily  Chronicle.  It  is  always  pleasant  to  know  you 
are  going  to  campaign  amongst  friends,  even  though  you 
know  them  to  be  the  keenest  of  competitors,  who  will  keep 
you  on  the  qui  vive  from  start  to  finish,  unless  you  wish 
to  find  your  best  endeavours  ever  anticipated  by  the  coups 
of  these  highly  trained  and  skilful  colleagues. 

We  spent  Saturday  seeing  the  sights  of  the  town,  and  in 
the  afternoon  my  brother  and  myself  visited  the  battlefield  of 
Aspern-Essling  on  the  other  side  of  the  Danube.  At  five 
o'clock  we  entered  the  Orient  Express  for  Constanza.  On  the 
train  we  met  Reshid  Pasha,  who  was  returning  from  conduct- 
ing the  peace  negotiations  with  the  Italians  at  Ouchy.  Poor 
Turkey  !  Here  was  her  representative  returning  from  what 
proved  to  be  a  successful  mission  of  peace,  only  to  find  his 
country  on  the  brink  of  war  with  four  other  nations.  He 
was  accompanied  by  Colonel  Aziz,  who  had  been  Military 
Attache  in  Washington,  and  who  had  also  accompanied  the 
British  Army  during  the  South  African  War.  He  told  me 
he  was  on  his  way  to  join  his  regiment  at  Mustafa  Pasha,  on 
the  Bulgarian  Frontier,  and  that  he  regarded  war  as  certain. 

We  reached  Constantinople  on  Monday,  October  7th. 
The  last  time  I  had  visited  this  picturesque  blot  on  the  face 
of  Europe,  was  fourteen  years  before,  at  the  time  of  the 
Greco-Turkish  war,  when  Abdul  Hamid  still  reigned 
supreme,  and  all  one  knew  of  the  Young  Turks  was  the 
sinister  fact  that  from  time  to  time  their  bodies  were  found 
floating  in  the  Bosphorus,  being  carried  slowly  by  the  tide 
out  towards  the  Sea  of  Marmora. 


THE  NEW   BYZANTIUM  7 

I  had  heard  so  much  of  the  Young  Turks  and  the  miracles 
they  were  going  to  accomphsh  once  the  country  had  obtained 
a  Constitution  that  I  hardly  expected  to  recognise  Constanti- 
nople, but  to  find  it  a  city  transformed.  I  found  nothing 
changed  except  that  the  dogs  had  gone,  although,  by  the  way, 
a  fresh  generation  of  these  noisy  pests  is  already  springing  up. 
Constantinople  remains  to-day  the  city  of  many  colours  and 
of  decay ;  the  city  which  nature  designed  to  be  a  paradise 
on  earth  and  which  man  has  transformed  into  a  cesspool  of 
vice,  decay,  and  blood ;  a  city  which  from  the  waters  of 
the  Bosphorus  looks  like  a  dream  of  marble  hanging  on  the 
slopes  of  purple  hills,  and  which  on  closer  inspection  turns 
()ut  to  be  a  hopeless  jumble  of  tumble-down  houses  with 
gangrened  and  mouldering  walls,  built  along  the  sides  of 
l^adly-paved,  precipitous  streets,  down  which  tired  horses 
glide  and  stumble,  with  here  and  there  some  beautiful 
marble  mosque  rising  above  the  gaudy  rubbish-heap  of  an 
out- worn  faith.  The  Turks  have  done  nothing  constructive  to 
beautify  the  city  since  their  inruption  in  1453.  They  have 
merely  added  minarets  to  the  old  Byzantine  churches,  or 
erected  mosques  in  garish  imitations  of  the  Greek  buildings. 
For  the  rest,  they  have  allowed  the  city  to  fall  into  hopeless 
decay. 

We  were  delayed  at  the  Customs  House  by  an  official  who 
insisted  that  our  tent  in  its  canvas  case  was  the  envelope  of 
a  dirigible  balloon.  It  was  only  by  a  liberal  donation  of 
backsheesh  that  we  convinced  him  of  the  innocent  nature  of 
our  baggage. 

We  found  the  wildest  rumours  floating  about  the  city. 
Everyone  held  different  opinions  and  had  a  different  tale  to 
tell  on  the  prospects  of  peace  or  war.  Some  declared  war 
to  be  absolutely  certain  and  others  were  equally  confident 
that  peace  was  assured.  At  the  Pera  Palace  Hotel  we 
found   a   motley  collection   of   war  correspondents   of  all 


8  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

nations,  who,  like  vultures,  had  gathered  in  anticipation  of 
the  horrid  feast  of  death. 

In  official  and  diplomatic  circles  the  opinion  prevailed  that 
peace  was  assured  because  the  Turkish  Cabinet  had  agreed 
to  apply  the  Law  of  1880  to  Macedonia.  This  concession, 
combined  with  the  efforts  of  the  Powers  to  bring  pressure 
on  Bulgaria  and  Servia  to  preserve  peace,  caused  a  highly 
optimistic  tone  to  prevail  in  Constantinople  on  the  day  of 
our  arrival,  and  until  we  got  in  touch  with  the  true  facts  of 
the  position  it  really  seemed  as  if  our  journey  to  the  Near 
East  would  be  in  vain.  However,  on  visiting  Sir  Gerard 
Lowther  I  found  that  he  was  far  from  sharing  the  general 
optimism  and  regarded  the  situation  as  extremely  grave. 
His  views  were  confirmed  and  amplified  by  Count  Leon 
Ostrorog,  the  Special  Correspondent  of  the  Daily  Telegraph 
in  Constantinople,  who  was  always  better  informed  on  the 
true  situation  than  anyone  else. 

Europe  had  up  to  this  time  quite  failed  to  grasp  the  true 
significance  of  the  Balkan  League.  It  had  been  built  up  by 
years  of  patient  endeavour  with  the  proclaimed  object  of 
obtaining  the  freedom  of  Macedonia,  but  with  the  real 
intention  of  proclaiming  a  twentieth  century  crusade  and 
of  driving  the  Turks  once  and  for  all  out  of  Europe.  The 
only  hope  for  Turkey  lay  in  the  jealousies  of  the  Great 
Powers,  and  especially  in  the  much-vaunted,  but  now  dis- 
credited, friendship  of  Germany,  which,  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment hoped,  would  postpone  the  blow  until  a  more  favour- 
able season,  if  it  could  not  permanently  prevent  it.  To  this 
hope  Turkey  clung,  until  in  the  end  the  demands  of  the 
Coalition  left  no  alternative  but  war. 

Immediately  on  arrival  in  Constantinople  we  began  to 
experience  the  difficulty  of  getting  at  the  truth  of  anything. 
The  Press  is  not  allowed  to  publish  any  news  of  importance 
without  official  sanction,  but  nevertheless  the  most  intimate 


COUNT   OSTROROG  9 

Cabinet  secrets  are  common  property  within  a  few  hours. 
No  one  seems  capable  of  keeping  a  secret,  and  all  news 
filtering  from  mouth  to  mouth  in  the  coffee-houses  and 
mosques  becomes  hopelessly  garbled  and  distorted,  with  the 
result  that  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours  a  score  of  people  Avill 
tell  you  different  stories  of  events  which  have  obviously 
originally  emanated  from  the  same  source. 

For  two  days  we  wandered  around  Constantinople  en- 
deavouring to  get  in  touch  with  the  true  situation,  so  as  to 
find  out  whether  it  was  worth  while  going  to  all  the  trouble 
and  expense  of  making  preparations  to  take  the  field.  On 
the  second  day  Count  Ostrorog  invited  my  brother  and 
myself  to  lunch,  and  finally  removed  all  doubts  in  our 
minds.  Count  Ostrorog  had  all  along  unhesitatingly 
preached  the  certainty  of  war  in  his  despatches  to  the 
Daily  Telegi^aph.  He  was  on  intimate  terms  with  everyone 
in  the  diplomatic  and  official  world  ;  he  possesses  a  sound 
knowledge  of  the  Turkish  character,  history  and  politics, 
and  always  had  access  to  the  Sublime  Porte.  He  was  at 
one  time  legal  adviser  to  the  Young  Turks  and  to  the 
Committee  of  "Union  and  Progress,"  and  has  had  much 
practical  experience  of  the  difficulties  of  attempting  to  graft 
modern  civilisation  on  to  a  Mahommedan  community 
without  infringing  the  sacred  code  of  Islam. 

At  lunch  Count  Ostrorog  told  us  that  there  was  a  rumour 
that  the  Montenegrin  Minister  had  asked  for  his  passports  and 
was  about  to  leave  Constantinople.  In  the  middle  of  lunch 
the  Count's  secretary,  M.  Pech,  arrived  and  confirmed  the 
report.  The  surprise  of  everyone  in  Constantinople  was 
intense  when  it  became  known  that  Montenegro,  the  smallest 
and  weakest  State  of  the  Coalition,  the  "  opera  bouffe  "  State 
of  the  Balkans,  had  thrown  down  the  gauntlet  and  declared 
war.  On  hearing  this  all-important  piece  of  news,  I  lost  no 
time  in  visiting  the  War  Office,  known  in  Turkish  as  the 


10  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

Seraskerat,  in  the  hope  of  seeing  Nazim  Pasha,  the  Minister 
of  War,  as  I  wished  to  find  out  what  facilities  would  be  given 
to  war  correspondents  to  carry  on  their  work  at  the  front. 

Great  excitement  prevailed  in  the  streets  of  Stamboul 
through  which  we  had  to  pass  on  our  way  to  the 
War  Office.  Military  preparations  were  being  hastily 
pressed  forward.  The  narrow,  filthy,  cobbled  streets  were 
crowded  with  Turks,  reading  the  little  sheets  issued  by 
the  Ottoman  Agency,  announcing  the  outbreak  of  war 
with  Montenegro.  There  were  young  Turks  dressed  in 
the  latest  European  fashion,  with  little  save  the  red  fez 
to  denote  that  they  were  children  of  the  Prophet ;  old  men 
in  gaudy  turbans  and  coloured  robes  sitting  cross-legged  in 
front  of  their  tumble-down  shops ;  wild-looking  individuals 
from  Turkestan  in  long  smocks  embroidered  with  gorgeous 
flowers ;  negroes  with  their  happy,  smiling  faces,  to  whom 
war  made  apparently  not  the  smallest  difference  ;  here  and 
there  veiled  Turkish  ladies  in  black  satin  dresses  and  shoes 
from  the  Rue  de  la  Paix  ;  fat  Jewesses  and  crowds  of  peaceful- 
looking  peasants  from  Anatolia  who  had  come  to  the  capital 
out  of  curiosity,  or  who  were  obeying  the  summons  of  the 
mobihsation.  Many  of  them  had  brought  their  sheep  and 
their  turkeys  or  their  oxen  with  them,  hoping  to  do  a  good 
"  deal  "  before  leaving  for  the  front.  Sometimes  the  crowd 
would  be  ruthlessly  pushed  aside  to  make  room  for  detach- 
ments of  fully  accoutred  Turkish  infantry  marching  to  the 
station  to  entrain  for  the  front. 

On  reaching  the  War  Office  we  found  large  numbers 
of  troops  being  drilled  and  equipped  in  the  great  court- 
yard in  front  of  the  building,  while  a  band  was  playing 
Turkish  military  airs  to  stir  up  the  patriotism  of  numbers 
of  recruits  and  reservists  who  were  endeavouring  to  master 
the  intricacies  of  the  Mauser  rifle,  which  large  numbers 
had   never    seen    or   handled    before.      The   courtyard  in 


COLONEL   IZZET  11 

front  of  the  Seraskerat  was  a  great  centre  of  attraction  for 
the  people  of  Constantinople,  who  spent  the  day  gazing 
in  wonder  and  admiration  at  the  splendidly-equipped 
battalions  as  they  were  in  turn  marched  off  to  the  station 
to  entrain  to  join  the  army  of  Thrace,  which  was  now 
being  formed  between  Adrianople  and  Kirk  Kilisse.  We 
were  unable  to  see  Nazim  Pasha,  the  Minister  of  War,  on  this 
visit,  but  my  brother  and  I  here  made  the  acquaintance  for  the 
first  time  of  Colonel  Izzet  Bey,  who  was  destined  to  play  a 
very  important  role  in  our  lives,  as  he  was  placed  in  charge  of 
all  the  war  correspondents  and  military  attaches.  We  hoped 
to  learn  much  valuable  information  from  Izzet,  but  quickly 
found  that  he  expected  us  to  keep  him  informed  of  what  was 
happening.  He  started  by  asking  us  whether  we  had  heard 
any  news  of  a  declaration  of  war  by  Bulgaria,  Servia,  and 
Greece.  I  very  soon  learned  to  know  also  that  it  was 
utterly  useless  to  hope  for  any  reliable  information  from  the 
War  Office,  as  Colonel  Izzet  did  little  to  assist  the  corre- 
spondents except  to  invent  a  daily  victory  for  the  Turks. 
The  information  which  he  gave  us  regarding  the  movements 
of  troops  and  the  concentration  of  the  various  army  corps 
was  generally  fabulous,  and  consisted  of  what  the  army 
should  have  done  rather  than  what  it  actually  did.  This 
mania  for  dissimulation  and  for  keeping  up  false  pretences 
when  the  truth  must  eventually  leak  out  is  a  marked  charac- 
teristic of  Turkish  officialdom. 


CHAPTER   II 

SCENES    IN    CONSTANTINOPLE 

On  the  following  morning  my  brother  and  myself  accom- 
panied Count  Ostrorog  to  the  Sublime  Porte  to  visit  Ghazi 
Moukhtar  Pasha,  the  Grand  Vizier.  The  Sublime  Porte  is 
sublime  only  in  name,  being  an  unpretentious,  dilapidated 
and  rather  dirty  square  building,  while  the  paving  stones 
in  the  courtyard  have  subsided  in  many  places,  allowing  the 
water  to  accumulate  in  pools.  A  number  of  troops  were 
concentrated  in  the  courtyard  to  cope  with  a  possible 
outbreak,  as  disturbances  had  been  freely  threatened  unless 
the  Government  showed  a  firm  front  to  the  demands  of  the 
Balkan  States. 

We  were  received  on  every  hand  with  the  greatest  cour- 
tesy and  politeness,  the  Turk  being  by  instinct  the  first 
gentleman  in  Europe.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  we  were 
kept  waiting  nearly  three  hours  before  the  Grand  Vizier 
arrived  at  his  office  from  his  country  seat,  it  being  typical 
of  Turkish  methods  that  he  should  arrive  at  two  o'clock 
at  his  office,  when  Islam  was  on  the  verge  of  one  of 
the  greatest  crises  in  its  history.  We  waited  in  the  room 
of  Ghazi  Moukhtar 's  Chef  de  Cabinet,  a  handsome  and 
very  smartly  dressed  young  Spanish  Jew.  The  room  was 
thronged  all  the  time  with  an  anxious  crowd  of  deputies, 
journalists  and  the  like.  They  discussed  the  situation  from 
a   variety  of  standpoints,   all   their   arguments  leading  by 


GHAZl   MOUKHTAR  13 

devious  routes  to  the  certainty  of  war.  Presently  an  old 
man,  an  ex-deputy,  came  up,  and  bid  Ostrorog  farewell, 
saying  that  together  with  his  two  sons  he  had  volunteered 
for  service  in  the  army  and  that  all  three  were  leaving  for 
the  front  that  afternoon.  At  length,  about  two  o'clock,  the 
Grand  Vizier  drove  up. 

Ghazi  Moukhtar,  the  celebrated  defender  of  Kars  in  the 
Russian  War  of  1878,  is  a  splendid  specimen  of  the  old 
type  of  Turk,  and  showed  but  few  traces  of  his  ninety 
years.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  easy  to  see  that  a  man 
of  such  advanced  years  must  be  lacking  in  that  vigour  of 
mind  and  quickness  of  decision  necessary  to  cope  with  the 
tangled  and  troubled  situation  in  which  the  Ottoman 
Empire  was  placed.  Ghazi  Moukhtar  has  been  nicknamed 
the  MacMahon  of  Anatolia,  and  this  title  well  describes 
him.  He  is  a  simple,  honest  soldier,  possessing  none  of 
the  brains  or  finesse  or  far-seeing  ability  so  necessary  in 
the  statesman  who  hopes  to  guide  his  country  successfully 
through  troubled  waters.  The  Ghazi  is  very  plain  and  blunt 
in  his  speech,  and  did  not  hesitate  freely  to  express  his 
views  before  Europeans  who  could  at  once  make  them 
public.  The  Ghazi's  colleagues  in  the  Ministry  knew 
his  proclivities  for  free  speech,  which  had  frequently 
landed  them  in  trouble  before,  and  finally  they  had  induced 
him  to  promise  never  to  grant  any  further  interviews,  but  on 
this  occasion,  having  escaped  from  his  chaperons,  he  quickly 
forgot  his  promise  and  indulged  in  a  torrent  of  opinions. 
He  spoke  French  slowly  and  distinctly,  but  seemed  to  have 
some  difficulty  in  grasping  what  was  said  to  him. 

I  asked  him  what  the  attitude  of  the  Government  would  be 
now  it  had  consented  to  apply  the  Law  of  1880  to  Macedonia. 
He  replied,  "  Turkey  has  reached  the  limit  of  her  concessions 
in  Macedonia,  and  nothing  but  war  remains  unless  Bulgaria 
and  Servia  consent  to  demobilise."     I  told  him  I  had  been 


14     WITH  THE  TURKS  IN  THRACE 

with  the  Itahan  Army  in  Tripoli  and  had  been  responsible 
for  exposing  the  massacre  in  the  Oasis.  This  seemed  to 
please  him  very  much.  Then  the  tactful  Count  Ostrorog, 
who  always  knows  how  to  say  the  right  thing  at  the  right 
moment,  referred  to  his  glorious  defence  of  Kars  against  the 
Russians  which  had  earned  for  him  the  title  of  Ghazi,  which 
means,  "  the  man  who  has  defeated  Unbelievers,"  and 
expressed  the  hope  that  he  would  again  take  the  field  in 
command  of  the  Turkish  armies.  The  old  warrior  was 
delighted  at  this  piece  of  obvious  flattery,  and  the  recollection 
of  his  former  glories  coming  into  his  eyes,  he  replied,  "  I 
often  think  of  it  and  long  to  be  in  the  saddle  at  the  head  of 
my  troops,  but  I  am  old  and  infirm."  "  But  Highness,  one 
could  never  take  you  for  an  old  man,"  the  diplomatic  Count 
Ostrorog  replied,  "  you  are  surely  not  so  old  as  Fouad  Pasha, 
who  commands  the  cavalry."  "  Ah,  my  friend,"  the  old  man 
replied,  ''  I  was  a  marshal  when  Fouad  was  only  a  colonel." 

Ghazi  Moukhtar  has  all  the  charming  simplicity  of  the 
peasant.  His  face  is  full  and  of  a  healthy  colour  ;  his  beard 
thick  and  white.  Save  for  a  slight  palsy  and  hesitation  in 
his  speech,  one  would  never  suspect  his  age. 

Afterwards  we  touched  on  the  question  of  Montenegro's 
declaration  of  war,  and  he  expressed  himself  as  totally 
mystified  by  the  attitude  of  the  httle  mountain  State  in 
precipitating  the  struggle.  "  Why  has  Montenegro  declared 
war  on  us,  apparently  without  consulting  her  aUies?"  he 
said.  "1  always  thought  that  Montenegro  worshipped 
Russia  as  a  god,  and  that  a  single  word  from  the  Russian 
Government,  which  professes  to  be  so  sincerely  anxious  to 
preserve  peace,  would  have  held  the  Montenegrins  in 
check." 

The  old  warrior  made  no  further  comment,  but  his 
remarks  showed  clearly  the  intense  and  very  natural 
suspicion  with  which  the    pacific    efforts  of   Russia  and 


THE   ANATOLIAN   PEASANT  15 

Austria  were  regarded  by  the  Turks.  Poor  old  Ghazi 
Moukhtar  only  remained  Grand  Vizier  for  a  few  weeks 
longer.  The  defeat  of  Lule  Burgas  discredited  his  Ministry, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  resign  to  make  room  for  Kiamil 
Pasha,  who  was  supposed  to  be  an  Anglophil. 

At  this  time  there  was  ample  evidence  in  Pera  and 
Stamboul  of  the  activity  with  which  preparations  for  war 
were  being  pushed  forward.  Regiments  of  Turkish  infantry 
were  being  constantly  marched  through  the  streets  to 
entrain  for  the  front  at  the  Cirkedge  railway  station  in 
Stamboul.  Most  of  the  men  were  Redifs,  and  had  been 
hastily  called  up  from  all  parts  of  the  empire.  Physically 
they  could  hardly  have  been  bettered.  Tall,  strong, 
deep- chested,  and  accustomed  to  hardships  and  to  a  meagre 
diet  from  earliest  childhood,  they  were  defenders  of  which 
any  nation  might  have  been  proud.  They  showed  but  little 
trace  of  enthusiasm,  marching  through  the  streets  with  dull, 
expressionless  faces,  more  like  animals  than  men. 

Reservists  were  arriving  from  Anatolia  at  the  rate  of  seven 
thousand  a  day,  and  were  immediately  marched  off  to  the 
various  barracks  to  receive  their  uniforms  and  equipment. 
These  peasants  were  intensely  picturesque.  They  were  dressed 
for  the  most  part  in  bright-coloured  cotton  shirts  ^nd  ragged 
trousers,  with  coloured  turbans  wound  round  their  heads. 
Many  arrived  in  Constantinople  barefooted,  and  strongly 
resented  having  to  wear  military  boots.  As  they  were  quite 
unaccustomed  to  foot-gear  their  feet  speedily  became  sore, 
and  two  weeks  later,  during  the  retreat  from  Lule  Burgas, 
it  was  a  very  common  sight  to  see  men  deliberately  throw 
away  their  boots  in  order  to  facilitate  their  escape  from  the 
stricken  field.  y 

Although  the  conscription  had  only  called  for  men  between 
the  ages  of  twenty  and  forty-five,  there  were  many  above  and 
below  this  age  who  had  volunteered  to  serve  with  the  army. 


16  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

The  hard  lives  of  the  peasantry  in  Anatolia  cause  men  to 
age  rapidly,  and  thus  a  great  many  of  these  reservists  had 
an  appearance  of  extreme  age  and  venerability,  and  looked 
as  if  they  ought  to  be  on  their  way  to  collect  old  age  pensions 
rather  than  to  shoulder  a  Mauser  rifle.  These  reservists 
seemed  extremely  cheerful  and  full  of  fight  until  they 
reached  the  barracks,  but  the  finished  article  turned  out 
there  seemed  to  lose  most  of  his  patriotism  and  enthusiasm 
for  the  war. 

I  suppose  a  few  nights  in  crowded  quarters  with  barrack 
fare,  and  a  few  days  spent  in  long  hours  of  drill,  carrying 
heavy  packs  on  the  back,  caused  these  simple  Anatohans  to 
take  a  different  view  of  the  struggle.  Possibly  also  for  the 
first  time  the  awful  state  of  confusion  which  prevailed  every- 
where was  brought  home  to  them,  and  they  began  to  have 
serious  misgivings  as  to  the  outcome  of  the  war. 

The  recruits  and  reservists,  as  soon  as  they  arrived  in  Con- 
stantinople, were  marched  to  the  barracks.  The  men  formed 
up  in  double  file  or  in  fours,  and,  holding  each  other's  hands, 
marched  through  Pera  and  Stamboul  to  the  music  of 
primitive  flutes  and  diminutive  violins,  played  by  the 
shepherds  among  them,  whilst  the  others  chanted  monoto- 
nous refrains.  From  time  to  time  the  music  would  stop  and 
the  whole  group  would  utter  a  deep-throated  cheer. 

In  the  mosque  of  St.  Sofia  we  saw  numbers  of  these  Redifs, 
who  had  obtained  an  afternoon's  leave  after  receiving  their 
uniforms  and  kits,  gazing  in  wonder  and  awe  at  this  miracle 
of  marble  and  mosaic  and  at  the  golden  dove  above  them, 
before  kneeling  in  silent  prayer  to  Allah.  It  was  an  object 
lesson  to  watch  the  sublime  faith  which  these  innocent 
victims  of  oppression  had  in  the  justice  of  their  cause  and  in 
the  certainty  of  their  victory.  How  few  realised  that  within 
three  weeks  nearly  all  would  be  dead  or  back  at  the  lines  of 
Chataldja,  and  that  St.  Sofia  would  have  been  turned  into  a 


THE   CORRUPT   VET.  17 

vast  hospital  for  the  wounded  or  for  the  countless  victims  of 
cholera ! 

The  Turkish  Government,  having  little  or  no  money  to 
spend  on  the  war,  adopted  the  very  simple  expedient  of 
commandeering  anything  it  might  require  for  the  service  of 
the  army.  Receipts  were  given  for  horses  and  carts,  the 
money  to  be  paid  after  the  war  in  the  event  of  the  property 
not  being  returned  to  its  rightful  owners.  No  one  had  the 
slightest  faith  in  the  ability  or  even  in  the  intention  of  the 
Government  to  meet  its  liabilities,  and  there  was  a  rush  of  all 
cab  owners  or  horse  dealers  in  Constantinople  to  sell  their 
animals  to  Europeans,  before  they  could  be  commandeered  by 
the  agents  of  the  Government.  Thus,  excellent  horses  could 
be  obtained  at  about  half  their  usual  price,  the  attraction  of 
cash  down  in  the  place  of  a  Government  receipt  proving 
irresistible. 

The  veterinary  surgeons  hired  by  the  Government  to 
pass  horses  as  fit  for  service  made  large  fortunes  in  bribes, 
and  many  a  horse  owner  saved  his  animal  by  a  timely  gift  of 
a  couple  of  sovereigns  to  the  veterinary  surgeon,  who  would  at 
once  pronounce  it  as  lame  or  permanently  unfit  for  service. 
I  know  of  one  man  who  made  £1000  in  this  way  alone. 

The  first  to  be  taken  were  the  tram  horses  which  were 
required  for  the  use  of  the  artillery,  after  which  the  cab 
horses  were  gradually  snatched  up.  In  consequence,  only 
the  most  wretched  old  screws  were  left  to  drag  one  about 
Constantinople,  and  as  the  insatiable  maw  of  war  gradually 
made  fresh  demands,  these  also  were  commandeered,  and 
very  frequently  one  would  see  a  two-horse  carriage  being 
dragged  along  by  a  single  animal  which  would  not  have 
fetched  two  pounds  as  sausage  meat  in  normal  times. 

On  the  way  back  from  the  Sublime  Porte,  where  we  had 
visited  the  Grand  Vizier,  our  carriage  was  stopped  in  order 
that  the  two  fine  Arab  horses  which  dragged  it  might  be  noted 


18  WITH  THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

by  the  military  authorities.  This  was  probably  the  last  drive 
they  ever  took  through  the  streets  of  Pera,  as  few  of  the  horses 
survived  the  hardships  of  the  campaign  in  the  cold  table- 
lands of  Thrace.  They  were  too  hght  for  the  heavy  Turkish 
cavalrymen  or  for  the  heavy  transport  wagons,  even  if 
proper  care  had  been  taken  of  them.  But  in  the  care  of 
their  horses,  as  in  everything  else,  the  Turks  showed  lament- 
able negligence.  The  horses  seldom,  if  ever,  received 
sufficient  food,  and  their  saddles  fitted  so  badly  and  were 
kept  on  for  such  long  periods  that  they  developed  huge 
festering  sores,  until,  finally,  at  the  end  of  their  powers  of 
endurance,  they  dropped  by  the  roadside  to  die  of  hunger 
and  exposure. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  mobilisation  in  Constantinople 
the  city  was  almost  without  wheeled  transport.  Only  the 
horses  of  the  ambassadors  and  a  few  old  screws  remained 
in  the  streets.  A  few  days  later  the  Government  decided  to 
seize  the  horses  of  all  foreigners  resident  in  the  city,  with 
the  exception  of  those  belonging  to  ambassadors  and 
bankers,  the  exemption  of  the  latter  being  delightfully  sig- 
nificant of  the  empty  state  of  the  Treasury.  We  encountered 
great  difficulty  in  buying  horses  to  take  us  to  the  front. 
Such  animals  as  remained  were  leading  much  the  same 
existence  as  the  Huguenots  after  St.  Bartholomew's  Eve. 
They  were  hidden  away  in  obscure  streets,  behind  locked 
doors,  in  stables  to  which  admittance  could  only  be  obtained 
by  knocking  the  requisite  number  of  times.  Then  the  bolt 
would  be  stealthily  withdrawn  a  few  inches,  a  head  would 
look  out  to  see  if  you  were  a  friendly  cash-down  purchaser 
or  a  vile  confiscatory  soldier,  who  would  not  only  take  the 
horse  in  return  for  a  worthless  bit  of  paper,  but  also  the 
harness  and  cart  and  any  fodder  which  happened  to  be  in 
the  stable. 

As    the    days    passed    and    the    male    population    was 


\l'hoto  S.  Aslimcad-BartUtt 

NoGi  AND  Abdullah,  our  two  Saddle  Horses,  with  Hadji,  the 
Albanl\n  Groom. 


WAR'S   INSATIABLE  MAW  19 

gradually  drafted  to  the  army,  Stamboul  grew  more  and 
more  to  resemble  a  city  which  had  been  swept  by  a  great 
pestilence.  The  shops  and  booths  were  almost  deserted  and 
the  contents  were  being  disposed  of  by  boys  in  their  teens 
or  by  old  men  too  worn  out  for  service  in  the  field.  None 
but  old  men  were  to  be  seen  in  the  shadowy  bazaars,  where 
beneath  vaulted  Byzantine  arches  they  sat  cross-legged  all 
day  before  a  jumble  of  carpets  from  Aleppo,  silks  from 
Damascus,  gold- work,  jewels,  silver,  and  shoddy  trifles  from 
Birmingham  and  Manchester.  Almost  the  entire  able- 
bodied  male  population  had  been  swept  northwards  by  the 
tide  of  war,  leaving  their  homes,  their  families  and  their 
countless  petty  trades  to  take  care  of  themselves.  Sir 
Walter  Scott's  words  describe  the  state  of  Stamboul,  and 
indeed  of  every  hamlet  in  Turkey,  better  than  any  words  of 
mine  can  do : — 

"  For  naught,  he  said,  was  in  his  halls 
But  ancient  armour  on  the  walls. 
And  aged  chargers  in  the  stalls. 
And  women,  priests  and  grey-haired  men. 
The  rest  were  all  in  Twisel  glen." 

Throughout  the  whole  of  European  Turkey  and  Anatolia 
the  men  had  been  called  to  the  front.  Every  village,  town 
and  hamlet  had  sent  its  tale  of  men.  War  is  an  insatiable 
maw  which  gathers  to  its  cruel  feast  whole  provinces  at  a 
time.  The  normal  Hfe  of  the  nation  must  be  carried  on  by 
old  men  and  women  and  beardless  youths,  whose  turn  is 
likely  to  come  at  any  moment.  The  loss  in  wealth  which 
this  represents  to  a  community  is  far  greater  than  the 
amount  of  money  consumed  by  the  war.  The  sacrifices 
demanded  of  Turkey  in  this  most  fateful  winter  in  her 
chequered  history  are  horrible  to  contemplate.  The  sulFering 
and  poverty  in  many  a  home  in  Asia  Minor  will  only  be 
known  to  the  sufferers  themselves — who   will  bear  them 

c2 


20  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

without  a  murmur — and  to  the  bread-winner,  if  by  chance  he 
survive  the  struggle  and  return  to  his  native  village  the 
richer  only  in  glory  and  in  his  hopes  of  eternal  salvation. 

From  the  very  day  the  first  shot  was  fired  by  Montenegro 
the  Turks  began  to  disseminate  false  news  of  purely 
imaginative  victories.  They  were  published  broadcast  in 
their  local  Press  and  by  the  Ottoman  Agency,  an  institution 
which  works  hand  in  glove  with  the  Government.  I  myself, 
and  many  of  my  colleagues  who  knew  little  of  Turkey  or  of 
the  Turkish  character,  were  taken  in  at  the  start,  because  we 
never  believed  that  a  reputable  Government  would  adopt  such 
childish  measures  to  conceal  its  reverses. 

Yet  officers,  including  Colonel  Izzet,  who,  I  really  think, 
himself  believed  some  of  the  stories  he  told  us,  were 
instructed  to  send  news  to  Europe  w^hich  did  not  contain 
a  single  element  of  truth.  The  first  night  he  came  to  dine 
with  us  at  the  hotel  he  gave  us  the  news  of  the  fighting  on 
the  Montenegrin  frontier.  "  The  Montenegrins,"  he  said, 
"  have  crossed  the  Turkish  frontier,  capturing  several  villages 
and  massacring  the  inhabitants  without  distinction  of  race 
or  creed,  sparing  neither  old  men,  women  nor  children. 
Afterwards  three  battalions  of  Turkish  infantry  advanced 
and  defeated  the  Montenegrins,  driving  them  back  across 
the  fi-ontier."  "  But,"  I  asked,  "  if  we  telegraph  this  news, 
will  the  censor  pass  it  ?  "  "  Yes,  he  will  pass  it  all  right," 
replied  Colonel  Izzet.  "  Will  he  pass  the  part  about  the 
massacres  ? "  "  Yes,"  came  the  prompt  response,  "  I  can 
assure  you  he  will  pass  the  massacres."  We  could  hardly 
restrain  our  laughter. 

The  above  is  typical  of  the  methods  of  the  official 
Turkish  Press  Bureau.  We  were  repeatedly  officially 
informed  by  the  Headquarters  Staff,  as  the  above  example 
shows,  of  successes  gained  by  the  Turkish  troops  on  the 
Montenegrin  frontier,  and  were  given  the  names  of  towns 


OFFICIAL   LIES  21 

and  villages  taken  from  the  enemy.  Yet,  when  the  English 
papers  reached  Constantinople  a  few  days  later,  and  we  read 
for  the  first  time  the  Montenegrin  reports  of  the  engage- 
ments, we  found  that  they  claimed  the  victory  and  the 
possession  of  the  same  towns  and  villages,  with  the  not 
inconsiderable  addition  of  more  than  three  thousand  Turkish 
prisoners.  When  the  war  became  general  we  heard  equally 
divergent  reports  from  the  Servian,  Bulgarian  and  Greek 
frontiers,  until  the  task  of  the  wretched  war  correspondent 
became  hopelessly  bewildering  as  long  as  he  remained  in 
Constantinople.  It  was  not  until  we  started  for  the  front, 
and  could  see  for  ourselves,  that  the  veil  fell  from  our  eyes 
and  the  naked  truth  stood  revealed  in  all  its  dramatic 
intensity. 

The  Turks,  following  the  unfortunate  precedent  of 
the  Turco- Italian  War,  embarked  on  a  vast  campaign  of 
make-believe,  in  order  to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the 
public,  and  would  in  no  circumstances  admit  a  reverse 
until  the  truth  became  so  obvious  that  it  could  no  longer  be 
concealed.  This  is  both  a  foolish  and  a  short-sighted  policy. 
Sooner  or  later  the  truth  always  comes  out,  and  as  the 
Government  had  systematically  announced  decisive  victories, 
the  ultimate  revelations  were  all  the  harder  for  the  public  to 
bear.  In  addition,  this  campaign  of  lies  effectually  alienated 
the  sympathy  of  most  of  the  correspondents  who  had 
arrived  in  Constanza  pronounced  Turcophils. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   EFFORTS   OF   DIPLOMACY 

Although  the  war  was  certain  from  the  very  first,  dull- 
witted,  hea\'y-footed  diplomacy  went  on  playing  its  hollow 
farce  right  up  to  the  moment  when  the  first  sound  of  the 
cannon  brought  down  the  fragile  edifice  of  pretence  and 
conceits  about  the  ears  of  the  diplomats  like  a  pack  of  cards. 

On  Sunday,  October  6th,  the  Sublime  Porte,  anticipating 
that  the  Powers  would  bring  pressure  to  bear  on  Turkey  for 
the  enforcement  of  the  reforms  in  Macedonia,  announced 
that  it  was  prepared  to  enforce  the  Law  of  the  Vilayets  of 
1880,  which  the  Sultan  Abdul  Hamid  had  refused  to  ratify. 
The  news  of  this  became  public  on  Monday,  the  day  we 
arrived,  and  in  consequence  superficial  observers  imagined 
that  peace  would  be  preserved.  But  the  Turk  had  been 
promising  reforms  in  Macedonia  for  nearly  a  century  without 
any  practical  betterment  of  the  lot  of  that  unfortunate 
province.  It  was  unlikely,  therefore,  that  the  Balkan 
Coalition,  which  had  been  preparing  for  the  war  to  save 
their  co-religionists  in  Macedonia  for  more  than  twenty  years, 
would  withdraw  at  the  eleventh  hour  and  declare  themselves 
satisfied  with  a  hollow  promise,  which  had  so  often  been 
made  and  so  often  broken  in  the  past. 

On  the  same  day  the  Powers  agreed  to  M.  Poincar^'s 
proposals  that  they  should  unite  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  in 
the  Balkan  capitals  in  the  interests  of  peace.     This  was 


A   FUTILE  DEMARCHE  23 

done  quite  seriously  three  weeks  after  the  Balkan  States 
had  begun  mobilising  with  the  avowed  object  of  driving 
Turkey  out  of  Macedonia.  Russia  and  Austria,  as  the 
Powers  most  directly  interested,  were  to  make  joint  demands 
at  Sofia,  Belgrade,  and  Athens,  while  the  Powers  were  to 
present  a  collective  Note  to  the  Porte  demanding  the 
practical  fulfilment  of  Article  23  of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin. 
Russia  and  Austria  were  to  make  their  demands  on  Tuesday, 
October  8th.  By  a  strange  coincidence,  on  the  morning  of 
that  day,  before  the  Ambassadors  had  had  time  to  present 
their  Note,  Montenegro,  the  smallest  of  the  Leaguers, 
declared  war  on  Turkey.  Now,  Montenegro  has  always 
been  guided  in  her  actions  by  Russia,  and  Russia  has 
provided  her  with  both  money  and  arms.  Yet  on  the  very 
day  that  Russia  was  presenting  a  Note  in  the  interests  of 
peace  to  the  Balkan  Allies,  little  Montenegro  declares  war. 

A  general  war  might  surely  now  have  been  regarded  by 
European  statesmen  as  inevitable,  but  still  diplomacy  con- 
tinued its  policy  of  pretence,  and  the  next  step  was  the 
presentation  of  the  Austrian  and  Russian  Notes  to  the 
Balkan  Allies,  a  few  hours  after  the  news  of  Montenegro's 
action  had  come  to  hand.  The  Notes  formulated  the 
following  demands  : — 

(1)  That  the  Powers  will  energetically  reprove  all 
measures  tending  to  bring  about  a  rupture  of  peace. 

(2)  That,  taking  as  their  basis  Article  23  of  the  Treaty  of 
Berlin,  they,  the  Powers,  will  take  in  hand  the  reahsation 
of  the  reforms  in  the  administration  of  Turkey  in  Europe, 
it  being  understood  that  the  reforms  will  not  infringe  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Sultan  or  the  territorial  integrity  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire. 

(3)  That  should  war  nevertheless  break  out,  the  Powers 
will  not  permit  at  the  end  of  the  conflict  any  modification 
of  the  territorial  status  quo  in  European  Turkey, 


24  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

This  sounded  very  virtuous  and  to  the  point,  and  must 
have  soothed  the  amour  propre  of  the  statesmen  who 
drew  it  up.  Unfortunately,  it  was  presented  three  weeks 
after  the  mobihsation  had  begun  and  when  the  angry  armies 
were  already  facing  one  another  on  the  borders.  Also  the 
statesmen  of  Sofia  and  Belgrade  were  sufficiently  astute  to 
know  that  the  Powers  were  far  too  busy  quarrelling  amongst 
themselves  to  take  any  effective  collective  action.  Had  not 
Montenegro  already  crossed  the  Rubicon  and  defied  the 
Concert  of  Europe,  which  in  spite  of  the  frantic  efforts  of  its 
conductor  Poincare  was  already  playing  hopelessly  out  of 
tune? 

As  a  matter  of  sober  fact,  although  unknown  to  European 
statesmen  at  the  time,  the  Balkan  question  had  passed 
entirely  beyond  the  powers  of  diplomacy  to  influence  the 
issue  one  way  or  the  other  once  the  mandate  had  gone  forth 
for  the  forces  of  the  Coalition  to  mobilise.  All  the  well- 
meant  efforts  of  Europe  to  preserve  peace,  although  out- 
wardly accepted  with  good  grace  and  fervent  thanks  by  the 
prospective  combatants,  who  were  determined  to  preserve 
all  the  etiquette  and  outward  formula  of  diplomacy  until  the 
first  shot  was  fired,  were  being  secretly  laughed  at  by  the 
military  authorities  of  all  five  interested  parties,  who  were  in 
entire  control  of  the  situation  and  determined  to  make  war 
just  as  soon  as  their  military  preparations  were  complete  and 
at  that  psychological  moment  when  they  could  strike  with 
most  advantage. 

In  Europe  the  idea  was  generally  held,  and  diplomacy 
seems  to  have  accepted  it  as  well,  that  the  real  issue  at 
stake  was  the  question  of  Macedonia.  This  was  an  entirely 
erroneous  outlook.  The  Macedonia  question  has  been 
going  on  for  thirty-two  years  and  will  probably  continue  for 
a  good  many  more  before  it  is  finally  settled.  Macedonia 
was  merely  the  preliminary  dry  bone,  over  which  the  dogs 


THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  CRUSADE    25 

of  war  were  quarrelling,  in  order  to  obtain  an  excuse  to 
reach  the  rich  meat  which  lies  behind.  The  struggle  had 
been  working  up  for  years  and  nothing  could  settle  it 
except  the  arbitrament  of  arms.  The  issue  at  stake  was  a 
national  one  and  was  regarded  as  such  not  only  by  the 
Turks,  but  by  the  Slavs.  It  was  the  final  effort  to  drive 
the  Turk  out  of  Europe  across  the  Hellespont,  into  Asia. 
That  is  how  the  Turks  read  the  situation  and  that  is  why 
they  were  determined  to  fight  the  matter  out  once  and  for 
all,  even  though  they  had  been  caught  at  a  great  military 
disadvantage. 

There  were  many  who  believed  up  to  the  last  moment 
that  there  would  be  no  war,  because  neither  Turkey  nor  the 
Balkan  States  would  dare  disobey  the  mandate  of  the  Powers 
that  they  must  not  fight,  and  that  even  if  they  did  so  none 
of  the  combatants  would  be  allowed  to  reap  any  rewards 
either  territorial  or  pecuniary  from  their  victory.  This  last 
threat,  however,  hit  both  ways,  because  if  the  victors  are  to 
gain  no  material  laurels,  the  losers  cannot  suffer  any  loss. 
But  in  reality  the  beseechings  and  threats  of  the  Powers 
carried  very  little  weight  with  the  Turks  or  with  the  Balkan 
States.  Both  knew  perfectly  well  that  throughout  the 
negotiations  Europe  had  been  hopelessly  divided,  and  that 
concerted  action  to  preserve  peace  had  been  brought  about 
only  with  the  utmost  difficulty,  in  spite  of  the  repeated 
declarations  of  Foreign  Ministers  that  all  the  Powers  were 
in  complete  accord. 

For  instance,  over  the  question  of  the  guarantees,  every 
Turk  thoroughly  believed,  whether  it  was  true  or  not,  that 
Sir  Edward  Grey  only  consented  to  bring  pressure  to  bear 
on  Turkey  with  the  utmost  reluctance  and  as  a  very  last 
resource.  Thus  the  collective  Note  was  still-born  before  it 
was  delivered.  The  Turkish  Government,  and  also  the 
AlUes,  knew  perfectly  well  that,  however  much  the  Powers 


26  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

might  threaten  and  back  up  their  threats  with  a  united 
protest,  the  moment  the  first  shot  was  fired  the  collectiveness 
of  Europe  would  at  once  evaporate  into  thin  air,  and  that  an 
entirely  new  diplomatic  situation  would  be  created,  over 
which  the  Powers  would  be  hopelessly  at  loggerheads  and 
unUkely  ever  to  agree,  so  that  there  would  still  be  an 
excellent  chance  of  the  victor  reaping  material  as  well  as 
moral  rewards  from  the  war. 

All  the  good  offices  of  Europe  were  brought  to  naught 
by  the  mistrust  in  which  both  Russia  and  Austria  were 
held  by  the  Turks,  as  well  as  by  the  Balkan  States. 
No  one  in  Turkey  believed  that  Austria  and  Russia  were 
working  in  the  interests  of  peace  from  the  humane  stand- 
point, but  merely  to  postpone  the  struggle,  because  they 
themselves  were  not  ready  to  take  part,  and  to  fish 
for  spoils  from  the  troubled  waters  of  the  Near  East. 
To  make  an  analogy  showing  the  true  position  of  Russia 
and  Austria ;  here  was  a  case  of  vast  importance  which  had 
suddenly  come  into  court  for  settlement.  Austria  and 
Russia  were  the  two  K.C.'s  who  were  to  lead  either  side,  but 
who  happened  at  the  moment  to  be  busy  elsewhere.  They 
were  not,  however,  willing  to  see  their  junior  counsel,  Turkey 
and  the  Balkans,  fight  it  out  between  them,  and  they  were 
thus  making  frantic  efforts  to  have  the  case  postponed  until 
the  next  sessions,  when  they  hoped  to  be  present  and  play 
the  leading  role. 

At  the  same  moment  that  the  Russian  Note  was  presented 
in  Sofia,  Russian  officers  were  giving  their  Bulgarian  and 
Servian  cousins,  who  were  leaving  St.  Petersburg  to  join 
their  regiments  on  the  frontier,  such  an  enthusiastic  send-off 
as  effectually  to  calm  any  misgivings  which  might  have  been 
felt  in  Bulgaria  as  to  the  ultimate  attitude  of  Russia.  The 
scenes  at  the  railway  station  in  St.  Petersburg  were  de- 
scribed as  foUows  in  The  Times  of  Saturday,  October  5th. 


RUSSIAN   SYMPATHIES  27 

"Although  the  hour  of  departure  had  been  kept  secret, 
the  station  was  crowded  by  an  enthusiastic  throng,  cheering 
and  singing  '  Shumi  Maritza  '  and  *  Bozhe  Tsurya  Khrani.' 

"  Hundreds  of  Russian  officers  were  present.  They  carried 
their  Bulgarian  comrades  on  their  shoulders  into  the  railway 
carriages.  In  the  Imperial  waiting-room  a  delegate  of  the 
Slavonic  Society,  in  an  impassioned  speech,  acclaimed  the 
present  union  of  the  Balkan  Slavs,  and  wished  them  a  speedy 
victory.  But  if  Providence  ordained  reverses,  let  them 
remember  that  their  Russian  brothers  would  not  forsake 
them.  All  the  Russians  present  shouted  *  Verno,'  •'  Verno ' 
(true,  true).  A  Servian  priest  then  solemnly  blessed  the 
departing  warriors,  bidding  them  restore  the  Cross  on 
St.  Sofia." 

The  next  move  in  this  stupid  game  of  make-believe  was 
the  presentation  by  the  Powers  on  Thursday,  October  10th, 
of  a  collective  Note  to  the  Sublime  Porte,  demanding  the 
fulfilment  of  Article  23  of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin.  This 
provided  for  the  reform  of  Macedonia  under  European 
control,  and  would  have  meant  in  effect  the  virtual  loss  of 
that  province  to  Turkey.  Everyone  knew  that  the  Turkish 
Government  would  have  had  to  face  a  counter-revolution  if 
it  had  acceded  to  the  demands  of  the  Powers.  The  Com- 
mittee of  Union  and  Progress  had  very  cleverly  announced 
its  intention  of  supporting  the  Government  in  defence  of 
Ottoman  Rights,  thereby  ensuring  its  return  to  power  if  the 
Government  should  give  way  to  the  pressure  brought  to 
bear  on  it  by  the  Powers.  Nevertheless  the  Note  was  pre- 
sented with  all  due  ceremony,  diplomacy  thinking,  like  a 
second  in  a  Prussian  duel,  that  if  men  were  to  kill  one 
another  they  might  as  well  do  it  according  to  the  strict 
rules  of  etiquette. 

Turkey,  of  course,  politely  and  vaguely  expressed  her 
inability    to    comply   with    the    demands    of   the   Powers, 


28  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

and  Europe  waited  for  the  next  move  in  the  game.  This 
was  to  come  on  Sunday,  October  13th,  when  the  Balkan 
League,  its  war  preparations  completed,  threw  off  the  veil, 
repudiated  the  authority  of  the  Great  Powers,  and  declined 
to  accept  their  promises  to  take  in  hand  the  realisation 
of  reforms  in  Turkey.  Further,  it  declared  it  would  only 
be  satisfied  with  radical  reforms,  sincerely  and  honestly 
carried  out,  and  in  conclusion  the  League  invited  Turkey  to 
apply  the  reforms  indicated  in  Article  23  of  the  Treaty  of 
Berlin.  It  insisted  that  the  principle  of  Nationalities  must 
be  observed,  called  for  the  administration  of  the  Provinces 
under  Belgian  or  Swiss  Governors,  required  the  formation 
of  elective  assembhes,  and  the  formation  of  a  local  gen- 
darmerie and  militia,  and  stipulated  that  reforms  must  be 
applied  by  a  council  composed  in  equal  numbers  of  Christians 
and  Moslems  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Ambassadors 
of  the  Powers  and  the  Ministers  of  the  Balkan  allies  in 
Constantinople.  Further,  Turkey  was  asked  to  complete 
the  changes  in  six  months  and  to  recall  her  orders  of 
mobilisation. 

The  Powers  were  aghast.  The  naughty  children  of  the 
Balkans  had  actually  dared  to  defy  their  mandate  and  it  now 
dawned  on  European  statesmen,  apparently  for  the  first 
time,  that  there  was  no  possible  means  of  bringing  them  to 
order.  Any  attempt  would  probably  have  meant  a  general 
conflagration  in  Europe.  Of  course  the  end  had  now  come. 
On  Tuesday,  October  15th,  Turkey  decided  to  break  off 
diplomatic  relations  with  the  Balkan  States,  and  on  the  same 
day  the  preliminaries  of  peace  with  Italy  were  signed  at 
Ouchy.  On  October  16th,  the  Turkish  Ministers  left  the 
respective  Balkan  capitals  and  on  Thursday,  October  17th, 
Turkey  declared  war  on  Bulgaria  and  Servia  and  we  enter 
upon  the  last  phase  of  Turkey  in  Europe.  On  the  following 
day,  Greece  followed  suit  by  also  declaring  war  on  Turkey. 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE   MILITARY   HISTORY   OF   THE   TURKS 

Before  the  outbreak  of  the  present'  war  there  was  a 
widespread  belief  in  the  mihtary  prowess  of  the  Turks,  the 
average  person  regarding  them  as  a  warhke  nation  who 
have  been  trained  in  the  use  of  arms  ever  since  Constanti- 
nople was  captured  by  Mahmoud  in  1453.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  this  is  an  error. 

After  the  first  wav^e  of  Mahommedan  fanaticism  had 
spent  itself,  the  military  power  of  the  Empire  was  fur- 
nished by  the  Janissaries,  who  were  not  in  the  first  place 
Mahommedans,  but  Christians  in  the  employ  of  the 
Sultans.  One  hundred  years  before  the  conquest  of 
Constantinople  the  Sultans  hit  upon  the  idea  of  forming 
a  personal  bodyguard  by  seizing  the  children  of  their 
Christian  subjects  at  a  tender  age,  forcibly  educating 
them  as  Mahommedans,  and  training  them  in  the  use  of 
arms.  These  troops  were  called  "  Yeni  Tcheri,"  or  *'  new 
soldiers,"  a  term  which  afterwards  became  corrupted  into 
Janissary.  Celibacy  was  imposed  on  them,  and  they  were 
enrolled  in  a  sort  of  military  family  and  supported  at  the 
Sultan's  personal  expense.  Their  very  banner  bore  as  its  badge 
a  saucepan  with  the  arms  of  the  Padisha  upon  it — a  potent 
reminder  of  the  source  of  their  sustenance.  The  idea  was  to 
form  a  Pretorian  Guard  of  soldiers,  having  no  ties  or  affinity 
with  the  conquered  peoples  from  among  which  they  were 


30  WITH  THE  TURKS   IN  THRACE 

seized,  or  with  the  turbulent  conquering  castes  which  were 
a  constant  source  of  unrest  in  the  Empire. 

The  Sultans  were  not  slow  to  discover  that  in  the 
Janissaries  they  had  found  an  excellent  instrument  of 
despotism,  for  they  were  not  only  useful  as  a  conquering 
foil,  but  also  as  an  infallible  means  of  maintaining  order 
amongst  the  heterogeneous  medley  of  creeds  and  races 
within  the  borders  of  the  Empire.  Their  institution  was 
rendered  additionally  necessary  by  the  fact  that  the  Turkish 
population  of  Anatolia  could  no  longer  support  the  terrible 
drain  of  human  life  which  the  constant  wars  of  the  Sultans 
imposed  upon  it,  and  this  was  the  only  safe  means  of  ob- 
taining recruits  from  the  subject  Christian  races.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  Suleiman  the  Magnifi- 
cent, the  Conqueror  of  Rhodes,  multiplied  the  Janissaries 
into  a  huge  standing  army.  In  one  year  he  caused  to  be 
circumcised  no  fewer  than  40,000  Christian  children. 

The  Turks  then  began  to  lose  their  warlike  habits 
and  the  Janissaries  fought  all  their  battles  for  them. 
They  remained  almost  invincible  up  to  the  year  1580,  but 
then  the  decUne  set  in,  and  so  rapid  was  the  process  of 
disintegration  that  early  in  1680  Savary  de  Breves,  the 
French  Ambassador  in  Constantinople,  wrote  a  book  on  the 
approaching  break  up  of  the  Ottoman  Empire.  He  had 
never  heard  of  the  status  quo  and  could  not  foresee  that  for 
two  and  a  half  centuries  the  pariah  dogs  of  Europe  would 
be  too  busy  quarrelling  amongst  themselves  to  devour  the 
putrefying  corpse  of  Islam. 

Under  a  strong  Sultan  the  disciphne  of  the  Janissaries  was 
maintained  and  they  were  a  source  of  strength  to  the  Empire. 
When  the  ruler  was  effete,  discipline  was  relaxed  and  the 
Janissaries  degenerated  into  a  horde  of  proud  Pretorians 
running  the  country  in  their  own  interests  and  setting  up  or 
pulling  down  the  principal  Ministers  of  State  at  will.     By 


THE  TURBULENT  JANISSARIES  31 

1622  they  had  abeady  become  such  a  nuisance  that  Osman  II. 
decided  to  disband  them  and  to  substitute  a  national  army 
recruited  from  all  classes  of  his  subjects.  A  horde  of  Ulemas, 
Sipahis,  and  other  palace  parasites,  fearful  that  their  privileges 
and  perquisites  might  be  cut  short  by  a  Sultan  with  such  a 
misplaced  passion  for  reform,  joined  hands  with  the  Janissaries 
and  applied  to  the  Sheik-ul- Islam  for  permission  to  dethrone 
a  ruler  who  dared  to  flaunt  the  sacred  Code  of  Mahomet  in 
such  a  flagrant  manner.  The  Sheik-ul- 1  slam,  whose  posses- 
sions were  also  in  danger,  readily  acceded  to  their  request. 
So  the  Janissaries,  after  massacring  Osman  and  his  Grand 
Vizier,  indulged  in  an  orgy  of  pillage  which  had  never  been 
equalled  even  in  the  troubled  history  of  Islam. 

It  was  not  until  1826  that  any  Sultan  found  himself 
strong  enough  to  disband  these  dreaded  Pretorians.  Then, 
at  the  order  of  Mahmoud  II.,  twenty  thousand  of  them 
were  massacred  and  the  remainder,  sixty  thousand  in 
number,  were  disbanded ;  the  Nizam,  or  recruited  army, 
being  substituted.  Henceforth,  by  a  strange  anomaly, 
the  recruits  for  the  army  were  drawn  from  amongst 
the  least  warlike  section  of  the  people,  namely,  the 
peasants  of  Anatolia,  the  reason  being  that  the  Ottoman 
Government  has  never  been  sufficiently  strong  to  subdue 
the  warlike  tribes — which  inhabit,  for  the  most  part,  the 
mountainous  districts — and  to  enforce  military  service  on 
them. 

The  Kurds  in  the  Caucasus,  the  Arabs  in  the  Yemen, 
and  the  Albanians  on  the  Adriatic  have  been  in  more  or  less 
open  rebellion  for  some  years.  Against  these  hardy  warriors 
the  peaceful  peasants  of  Anatolia  are  constantly  being 
mobilised,  only  to  perish  in  battle,  or  more  often  from 
neglect  and  starvation,  in  the  outlying  provinces  of  the 
Empire.  The  best  blood  of  the  nation  has  been  drained 
from  the  heart  of  Anatolia  to  be  spilt  in  the  burning  sands 


32  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

of  the  Yemen  or  in  the  mountains  of  Albania  and  the 
Caucasus.    The  wastage  of  hfe  has  been  tremendous. 

Meanwhile  the  fertile  soil  of  Anatolia  is  deserted  by 
all  save  old  men,  women,  and  children.  The  Anatolian 
peasants  who  were  marching  to  do  battle  against  the 
Balkan  Crusaders,  knew  that  a  similar  measure  of  neglect 
and  suffering  would  be  their  only  reward.  Thus  it  was  they 
marched  in  silence  and  sadness  to  sell  their  lives  like  heroes 
at  the  command  of  a  Government  which  had  not  even  made 
arrangements  to  supply  them  with  the  bare  necessaries  of  life. 

If  we  briefly  survey  the  history  of  Turkey  in  the  last 
100  years,  since  the  abolition  of  the  Janissaries,  we  shall 
find  that  she  has  been  beaten  in  every  war  in  which  she 
has  been  involved,  with  the  exception  of  the  war  of  1897 
against  Greece,  when  she  possessed  such  immense  numeri- 
cal superiority  as  to  render  victory  over  the  none  too 
courageous  Greeks  inevitable.  In  the  defence  of  armed 
fortresses,  however,  the  Turks  have  repeatedly  shown  proof 
of  astonishing  courage  and  endurance,  and  it  is  on  this 
trait  in  their  military  character  that  their  reputation  as 
soldiers  is  based.  But  the  defence  of  fortresses,  however 
stubborn  and  prolonged,  is  not  sufficient  of  itself  for  the 
winning  of  wars,  although  it  may  seriously  delay  an 
invader  and  inflict  severe  losses  upon  him.  It  is  merely  a 
useless  waste  of  life  when  there  is  no  field  army  to  give 
battle  to  the  enemy,  when  his  forces  have  been  weakened  by 
a  prolonged  siege,  or  prepared  to  take  the  offensive  after 
relieving  the  beleaguered  fortress. 

But  whenever  the  Turks  have  given  battle  in  the  open 
field,  or  essayed  an  offensive  movement  of  any  kind,  they 
have  been  badly  beaten,  not  because  they  lack  courage, 
but  by  reason  of  the  inefficiency  of  their  officers,  the  want 
of  training  among  their  men,  and  a  general  deficiency  of 
any  form  of  military  organisation. 


THE   TURKS   IN   DEFENCE  33 

The  heroic  defence  of  Plevna  in  the  war  of  1878,  when 
40,000  Turks,  under  Osman,  held  more  than  100,000 
Russians  at  bay  for  nearly  six  months,  and  were  only  finally 
defeated  by  the  slow  process  of  a  regular  siege  and  by  the 
arrival  of  two  Roumanian  Army  Corps,  is  the  latest  and 
greatest  feat  of  arms  upon  which  the  reputation  of  the 
Ottoman  army  is  based.  It  should  be  remembered,  how- 
ever, that  after  Osman  had  surrendered  while  trying  to 
fight  his  way  out  of  the  beleaguered  fortress,  the  Turkish 
power  collapsed,  and  within  a  few  weeks  hordes  of  Cossacks 
had  overrun  the  whole  of  Turkey  in  Europe,  while  the 
main  Russian  army  was  encamped  at  San  Stefano  within 
ten  miles  of  the  Capital  and  only  prevented  from  setting 
up  the  Cross  in  Byzantium  by  the  presence  in  the 
Bosphorus  of  the  British  Fleet. 

The  course  of  nearly  all  Turkey's  wars  in  the  nineteenth 
century  has  been  much  the  same.  First  a  few  successes, 
then  a  mismanaged  advance  ending  in  disaster,  followed  by 
the  heroic  but  useless  defence  of  some  fortress,  and  after  that 
the  deluge.  Unfortunately  for  Turkey,  the  jealousies  of  the 
European  Powers  have  always  saved  her  Empire  in  Europe 
from  dismemberment,  and  she  has  been  allowed  to  remain  in 
possession  of  territories  which  she  was  unable  to  defend,  and 
which  were  involving  her  in  constant  and  bloody  wars. 
The  loss  of  life  and  the  suffering  which  this  policy  of  the 
Powers  has  involved,  are  appalling  to  contemplate.  The 
best  blood  of  Turkey  has  been  drained  from  the  fertile 
vilayets  of  Asia  Minor  to  be  spilt  in  a  hopeless  struggle  in 
the  land  of  the  giaours ;  thousands  of  Russian  peasants  have 
perished  fighting  for  a  country  in  which  they  had  no  interest, 
and  the  Christian,  Greek,  and  Bulgarian  inhabitants  of  the 
Balkans  have  been  repeatedly  ravaged  and  decimated. 

When  we  consider  the  terrible  list  of  wars  which  Turkey 
has  had  to  fight  in  the  last  century,  and  when  we  consider 

D 


34  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

that  her  armies  have  been  almost  entirely  recruited  from 
among  the  Mohammedan  subjects  of  the  Empire,  we  no  longer 
wonder  that  the  country  is  backward  and  misgoverned,  our 
only  surprise  is  that  the  Turkish  race  has  not  ceased  to  exist. 
The  strain  upon  the  vitahty  of  the  Ottoman  Turks  has,  of 
course,  been  very  severe,  and  to-day  they  number  less  than 
one-third  of  the  total  population  of  the  Empire. 

All  over  Europe  the  nineteenth  century  was  marked  by 
the  awakening  of  national  feeling  among  subject  races. 
Italy  was  destined  to  free  herself  from  the  Austrian  yoke, 
but  the  first  rising  was  that  of  1821,  when  Greece  revolted 
against  Turkish  rule  and  the  Turks  retaliated  by  hanging 
the  Patriarch  on  his  own  church  door  in  Constantinople, 
and  by  massacring  or  reducing  to  slavery  the  70,000 
inhabitants  of  the  island  of  Chios.  The  war  was  destined 
to  last  eight  years.  During  this  time  the  Turks,  unable 
to  subdue  the  Greeks,  sent  to  Mehemet  Ali,  the  Pasha 
of  Egypt,  for  assistance.  The  latter  with  his  very  efficient 
fleet  and  army  was  on  the  point  of  reducing  the  Greeks  to 
submission  or  rather  annihilation,  when  the  Powers  stepped 
in  and  destroyed  the  Turkish  fleet  at  Navarino.  Soon 
afterwards  Russia  declared  war  and  occupied  Adrianople 
in  1828  without  encountering  much  resistance.  Meanwhile 
Mahomed  II.  had  in  1826  disbanded  the  Janissaries,  and 
made  futile  efforts  to  carry  on  the  war  with  a  hastily 
recruited  Nizam  (regular)  army. 

At  the  Conference  of  London  in  1830  the  Powers 
ordained  that  Greece  should  become  an  independent 
kingdom,  and  the  Russian  army  was  politely  but  firmly 
requested  to  leave  the  neighbourhood  of  Byzantium  and  to 
return  to  its  native  lair. 

Turkey  was  only  to  enjoy  two  years  of  peace,  for  in  1832 
Mehemet  Ali,  who  was  nominally  only  the  Governor  of 
Egypt,  appointed    by  the    Sultan   and  removable   at   will, 


THE   FIRST   CONSTITUTION  35 

declared  himself  independent  and  quietly  annexed  the  whole 
of  Syria  to  his  newly-created  kingdom.  Mehemet's  son, 
Ibrahim,  at  the  head  of  an  Egyptian  army,  easily  destroyed 
all  the  Turkish  troops  that  were  sent  against  him,  and  the 
Sultan  in  his  extremity  was  constrained  to  call  upon  his 
old  enemies  the  Russians  for  assistance.  Mehemet  made 
peace,  but  obtained  the  Viceroyalty  of  Syria  for  his  life- 
time. Soon  afterwards,  however,  having  reformed  his  army 
under  French  supervision,  he  proceeded  to  invade  Turkey, 
annexed  Crete,  and  destroyed  all  the  Turkish  armies  which 
were  sent  against  him. 

The  break-up  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  appeared  to  be 
inevitable,  when,  by  a  stroke  of  genius,  the  Sultan  sum- 
moned representatives  from  among  all  nationalities  and 
creeds  of  his  subjects  and  read  the  famous  Hatti  Sherif 
of  1839,  which,  besides  granting  a  constitution,  proclaimed 
the  equality  of  all  races  wdthin  the  Empire,  and  generally 
promised  the  dawn  of  a  golden  age  in  Turkey.  The 
apparent  intention  of  the  Sultan  to  reform  his  decaying 
Empire  so  worked  upon  the  sympathies  of  the  Powers,  and 
more  especially  upon  those  of  England — to  whom  incidentally 
the  break-up  of  Turkey  was  by  no  means  welcome — that  they 
intervened,  and  after  a  blockade  of  Alexandria  by  the  allied 
fleets,  the  rebellious  Pasha  of  Egypt  was  constrained  to 
abstain  from  further  assaults  on  his  master's  property. 

But  even  now,  after  almost  twenty  years  of  continual 
warfare,  Turkey  was  not  destined  to  enjoy  peace  in  which 
she  could  recover  from  her  almost  mortal  wounds.  An 
insurrection  broke  out  in  Kandia,  and  the  Emir-el-djebel 
(Prince  of  the  Mountains),  not  at  all  liking  the  equality 
of  all  races  and  religions  which  the  Hatti  Sherif  had  pro- 
claimed, raised  the  Holy  Standard  in  Arabia,  and  massacred 
all  the  Christians  whom  he  could  lay  his  hands  on.  The 
insurrection  spread  so  wide,  and  was  accompanied  by  such 

d2 


36  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

fearful  bloodshed  and  atrocities,  that  the  Powers  were  once 
more  obliged  to  intervene  in  order  to  rescue  the  Sultan  from 
his  unruly  subjects. 

Europe  now  looked  forward  to  a  few  years  of  peace  in 
the  Near  East,  as  all  possible  combatants  were  apparently 
exhausted,  but  such  hopes  were  vain,  for  no  sooner  had  the 
Emir-el-djebel  been  subdued  than  the  Shah  of  Persia 
suddenly  invaded  Turkish  territory.  This  attack  was  rather 
like  the  case  of  one  old  inmate  of  a  workhouse  attacking 
another  with  his  crutch  when  the  master  had  his  back 
turned,  for  the  Shah  ruled  over  the  only  Empire  in  the 
world  which  for  decrepitude  and  bad  government  could 
compare  with  Turkey.  The  Shah  was  repulsed  after  much 
bloodshed,  but  in  the  meantime  anarchy  broke  out  all  over 
the  Turkish  Empire,  due  chiefly  to  the  reforms  which  the 
Sultan  was  misguided  enough  to  attempt  to  enforce.  Sixty- 
eight  years  later,  the  Young  Turks  were  destined  to  pro- 
duce an  exactly  similar  state  of  affairs  by  their  ill-fated 
Constitution. 

Anarchy  reigned  supreme  in  Turkey  for  years,  but 
without  any  interference  of  the  Powers,  who  were  for  the 
most  part  far  too  busy  in  quelling  their  own  disturbances 
at  home,  which  culminated  in  the  revolutions  of  1848. 
During  this  time  the  awakening  of  national  spirit  among  the 
Slavs  of  the  Balkans  began  to  take  definite  form.  They 
were  too  weak  to  free  themselves  from  the  Turkish  rule 
by  their  own  unaided  efforts,  and  so  their  hopes  were  centred 
on  Russia,  who  was  looked  upon  as  the  great  liberator.  So, 
in  1853,  Russia,  stimulated  by  the  weakened  state  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire,  embarked  on  her  great  attempt  to  drive 
the  Turks  out  of  Europe,  and  to  set  up  the  Czars  in 
Byzantium. 

Europe,  and  more  especially  Austria,  had  been  so  shaken 
by  the  revolutions  of  1848,  that  Nicholas  I.  expected  to  be 


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A  Turkish  Colonel, 


AN   ITINERANT   SULTAN  37 

allowed  to  fulfil  his  crusade  in  peace,  but  he  reckoned 
without  the  ambition  of  Napoleon  III.  and  the  fears  of 
England. 

At  first  the  Russians  were  everywhere  successful,  the 
Turks,  however,  distinguishing  themselves  for  the  heroic 
defence  of  Silistria  in  Bulgaria,  and  of  Kars  in  Asia  Minor. 
Then  England  and  France  invaded  the  Crimea,  and  Russia 
was  compelled  to  abandon  all  hope  of  reaching  Byzantium. 
The  Turkish  troops  which  were  attached  to  the  allies  in  front 
of  Sevastopol  proved  themselves  of  little  value  in  the  field. 

Once  again  the  Turkish  Empire  in  Europe  was  only  saved 
from  complete  disintegration  by  foreign  intervention.  Left 
to  themselves  the  Russians  would  in  all  probability  have 
succeeded  in  setting  up  the  Cross  on  St.  Sofia. 

After  the  Crimean  War,  the  intercourse  of  Turkish 
rulers  and  statesmen  with  Western  civilisation  proved  a 
further  source  of  weakness  for  the  Empire,  in  that  it 
rendered  them  less  and  less  qualified  to  govern  their 
Mahommedan  subjects.  The  Sultan  Abdul  Aziz  in  1867 
took  the  unprecedented  step  of  visiting  Queen  Victoria, 
Napoleon  III.,  and  the  Emperor  of  Austria.  There 
was  a  terrible  outcry  among  Mahommedans  against  this 
unheard-of  innovation,  but  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  hard-pressed 
to  justify  his  master's  breach  of  the  laws  of  the  Koran, 
invented  the  fable  that  "  The  Sultan  had  embarked  on  a 
voyage  of  conquest,  and  that  so  great  was  his  prestige  and 
the  fear  of  his  power,  that  each  country  in  which  he  had  set 
foot  had  at  once  submitted  to  his  rule.  By  an  extraordinary 
act  of  magnanimity,  however,  he  had  personally  visited  each 
sovereign  and  restored  his  possessions  to  him." 

This  childish  fable  quelled  the  outcry  in  Islam,  and  had 

the  additional  merit  of  giving  rise  to  some  admirable  hons 

mots  on  the  subject  in  Paris  at  the  expense  of  Napoleon  III. 

Turkey  was    now  entering    on    the  last  phase  of   her 


38  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN    THRACE 

chequered  history  in  Europe,  and  the  final  struggle  of  the 
Slav  nationalities  for  independence  was  about  to  begin.  The 
foundation  of  a  Bulgarian  Exarchate — independent  Bulgarian 
Church — in  1842,  was  their  first  step  toward  independence. 
In  1875  isolated  rebellions  broke  out  all  over  the  Balkans, 
but  were  subdued  by  the  Porte  without  much  difficulty, 
and  Bismarck  was  able  to  declare  in  the  Reichstag  shortly 
afterwards  that  the  "Political  heaven  had  never  been 
clearer."  Three  weeks  later  the  Servians  rose  to  a  man  in 
revolt  against  the  Turkish  yoke  and  the  Balkan  Peninsula 
was  plunged  in  the  throes  of  a  ghastly  war. 

European  diplomacy  was  destined  to  prove  equally  badly 
informed  in  1912.  Turkey's  situation  was  complicated  by  the 
fact  that  Gladstone  had  allowed  himself  to  be  hoodwdnked 
by  the  Russians  into  believing  that  the  Turkish  troops 
possessed  a  monopoly  of  the  atrocities  committed  in  the 
Balkans,  whereupon  he  started  his  Turkish  atrocity  cry  and 
turned  away  the  sympathies  of  Europe  from  the  Ottoman 
army.  Meanwhile,  the  Sultan,  Abdul  Aziz,  was  deposed, 
through  the  machinations  of  the  newly-founded  "Young 
Turks"  under  Midhat  Pasha,  and  the  Sultan  Murad  sub- 
stituted for  him.  Abdul  Aziz  shortly  afterwards  committed 
suicide  with  the  assistance  of  two  assassins  whom  Murad 
sent  to  him,  and  Murad  soon  going  mad,  the  notorious 
Abdul  Hamid  was  set  up  in  his  place.  The  Servians  were 
getting  the  worst  of  the  war,  and  practically  all  their 
resistance  had  been  crushed  when,  in  1877,  Russia  declared 
war  against  the  Porte  and  marched  to  the  assistance  of 
her  Slavonic  cousins.  Then  came  the  heroic  defence  of 
Plevna,  after  which  the  Russians  occupied  the  whole  of 
European  Turkey  up  to  the  walls  of  Constantinople. 

By  the  Treaty  of  San  Stefano  Turkey  granted  autonomy 
to  the  Bulgarians  and  ceded  the  whole  of  the  Eastern  Balkans 
up  to  Adrianople  to  them.    To  the  Servians  was  given  a  large 


THE   BILL   OF   INEFFICIENCY  39 

portion  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  and  to  Montenegro  a 
portion  of  Northern  Albania.  Roughly  speaking,  these 
nascent  Balkan  States  were  given  the  territory  that  they  are 
now  claiming  after  the  accomplishment  of  their  successful 
crusade.  Once  again  Russia  was  to  be  baulked  of  the  fruits 
of  victory.  The  Powers  stepped  in,  revoked  the  Treaty 
of  San  Stefano,  and  at  the  Congress  of  Berlin  in  1878 
Roumania  and  Bulgaria  were  created  autonomous  princi- 
palities to  serve  as  a  buffer  to  the  ambitions  of  Russia,  a 
large  portion  of  Roumelia  being  restored  to  Turkey  as  well 
as  the  fortress  of  Erzerum  in  Asia  Minor. 

Some  idea  of  the  drain  which  these  successive  wars  made 
on  the  resources  of  Turkey  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact 
that  the  Crimean  War  cost  Russia  £160,000,000  and  some 
100,000  men.  For  the  war  of  1877-8  she  brought  some 
460,000  men  into  the  field  at  a  cost  of  £200,000,000.  The 
cost  to  Turkey  and  her  losses  in  men  are  not  known,  but 
they  must  have  been  almost  as  great.  At  this  time  began 
the  migration  of  the  Turks  out  of  the  conquered  provinces  in 
Europe  back  to  Asia  Minor,  rather  than  live  under  Christian 
rule.  The  migration  was  destined  to  culminate  in  the  war 
of  1912,  when  practically  the  whole  Ottoman  population 
abandoned  Turkey  in  Europe. 

In  1885  Eastern  Roumelia  fell  to  Bulgaria,  which  kingdom 
remained  under  the  nominal  suzerainty  of  the  Sultan  until 
1908,  when  Prince  Ferdinand  seized  the  opportunity  afforded 
by  the  Young  Turk  revolution  of  declaring  his  principate  an 
independent  kingdom,  with  himself  as  Czar. 

At  the  close  of  the  campaign  of  1877-8,  national  senti- 
ment had  not  reached  a  high  state  of  development  among 
the  Bulgarians,  so  that  when  Bulgaria  was  made  an 
independent  principate  by  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  she  was  only 
too  contented  to  become  the  instrument  of  Russia,  and 
would  have  offered  no  resistance  to  being  incorporated  in 


40  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

the  Empire  of  the  Czar.  But  the  spread  of  Western  ideas 
and  education  soon  began  to  foster  the  spirit  of  independence 
in  Sofia,  and  before  long  the  statesmen  of  St.  Petersburg 
were  obhged  to  recognise  that  they  had  created  a  nation 
with  definite  ambitions,  which  would  block  the  road  to 
Byzantium  to  them  for  all  time.  Accordingly,  after  a  short 
time,  they  began  to  devote  their  energies  toward  the 
acquisition  of  territory  in  the  Far  East. 

Meanwhile,  the  tyranny  of  Abdul  Hamid  was  to  ensure 
to  Turkey  thirty  years  of  comparative  external  peace ;  but 
they  were  dark  years  for  the  Christian  subjects  of  the 
Empire.  This  tyranny  of  Abdul  Hamid  was  merely  the 
policy  which  the  Turkish  Government  has  always  pursued, 
carried  to  its  highest  form. 

The  Turks  are  the  fruit  of  the  blending  of  the  warhke 
autocracy  of  the  JNIongols  with  the  religion  of  the  ascetic 
Arabs  of  the  desert.  The  result  of  this  combination 
was  a  fanatical  and  courageous  race,  which,  after  flooding 
the  fertile  lands  of  Asia  Minor,  swept  on  over  Byzan- 
tium, and  only  exhausted  its  force  against  the  waUs  of 
Vienna.  Upon  their  inruption  into  Byzantium,  however, 
these  fanatical  and  ascetic  warriors  came  into  contact  with 
the  most  effete  and  corrupt  civilisation  that  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  Byzantium  was  a  cesspool  of  vice  and  corruption, 
polluting  all  streams  which  flowed  through  its  foetid  waters. 

So  the  Sultans  of  Turkey  left  their  tents  and  went  to  live 
in  the  palaces  of  the  Greek  Emperors,  where,  in  the  scented 
luxury  of  the  harem,  their  energy  was  sapped  by  a  life  of 
erotic  indulgence.  As  their  love  of  luxury  and  extravagance 
increased,  so  arose  the  necessity  of  draining  more  and  more 
money  from  their  conquered  provinces,  and  as  they  no 
longer  possessed  the  physical  energy  to  initiate  sound  methods 
of  government,  they  entrusted  the  task  of  collecting  their 
revenues  to  the  corrupt  Pashas  of  the  different  provinces,  to 


THE   DECAY   OF   ISLAM  41 

whose  interest  it  was  to  extort  the  uttermost  farthing  from 
their  down-trodden  subjects,  regardless  of  all  the  economic 
principles  of  taxation. 

The  Turks  have  never  been  a  constructive  race,  or 
attempted  to  create  a  centralised  Empire  like  the  Romans. 
Their  object  has  been  to  obtain  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and 
with  a  minimum  expenditure  of  effort,  a  land  in  which  to 
live  and  a  plentiful  revenue. 

They  have  conquered  those  who  were  too  weak  to  resist, 
but  with  the  strong — the  inhabitants  of  the  mountains  or 
the  frontier  districts — they  have  compromised,  so  that  their 
Empire  is  a  patchwork  of  races  and  creeds  ;  some  enjoying 
complete  autonomy,  others  a  modified  form  of  vassalage ; 
others  again  being  subjected  to  heart-breaking  subjection. 

The  orthodox  Christians  have  from  the  earliest  times 
formed  a  State  within  the  State,  having  their  own  patriarch, 
archbishops,  and  bishops,  and  enjoying  complete  religious 
freedom.  This  has  not  saved  them,  however,  from  the  most 
appalling  economic  oppression,  for  the  Turkish  Government 
of  the  European  provinces  has  always  resembled  the  head- 
quarters staff  of  an  army  camped  in  a  hostile  country,  only 
anxious  to  draw  the  maximum  of  supplies  for  its  men, 
regardless  of  the  fact  that  in  doing  so  it  is  reducing  the 
land  to  a  desert. 

To-day  in  Thrace,  the  only  roads,  the  only  wells  and 
fountains,  the  only  decent  buildings,  are  those  left  by  the 
Romans,  and  the  country  which  1000  years  ago  was  one  of 
the  principal  granaries  of  Europe,  is  now  one  of  the  world's 
waste  places. 

The  same  ruin  and  decay  are  to  be  seen  in  Constantinople, 
which,  when  Constantine  was  Emperor  in  Byzantium,  must 
have  been  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  Now  the 
statues  have  disappeared  from  the  Hippodrome  ;  the  palaces 
of  the  Greek  Emperors  no  longer  hang  like  marble  dreams 


42  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

upon  the  shores  of  the  Bosphorus ;  the  streets  of  Stamboul 
are  badly  paved,  decrepit,  and  narrow  as  rabbit  warrens  ;  the 
sanitary  arrangements  of  the  city  are  non-existent,  and  when 
a  house  tumbles  or  is  burned  down,  it  is  not  rebuilt  for 
years — the  great  fire  of  four  years  ago  destroyed  15,000 
houses  in  Stamboul,  and  no  attempt  has  been  made  as  yet 
even  to  clear  away  the  ruins. 

The  policy  of  extortion  was  never  more  ruthlessly  pursued 
than  during  the  reign  of  Abdul  Hamid.  The  ambition 
of  this  modern  Nero,  so  soon  as  he  had  got  rid  of  the 
constitutionally-minded  Midhat  Pasha  by  having  him 
strangled  in  some  remote  Arabian  gaol,  was  to  awaken  the 
primitive  fanaticism  of  the  Mahommedan  world  by  stamping 
out  all  Western  ideas  and  innovations  with  a  ruthless  hand, 
and  to  weld  together  his  empire  by  appealing  to  the  spirit 
of  Pan-Islamism. 

A  study  of  history  had  taught  him  that  directly  any 
section  of  the  Christian  subjects  of  the  Empire  became  too 
prosperous  or  powerful,  they  purchased  arms  and  revolted 
against  the  tyranny  of  the  Khalifate.  Accordingly,  when 
any  of  his  Christian  subjects  showed  signs  of  incipient 
prosperity,  agents  were  instructed  to  excite  the  fanaticism 
of  their  Mahommedan  neighbours,  until  such  time  as  they 
should  faU  upon  the  rebellious  Christians  and  reduce  their 
villages  and  lands  to  a  wilderness.  In  this  way  he  caused 
some  30,000  Armenians  to  be  massacred  in  cold  blood  by 
the  savage  Kurds,  not  because  he  disliked  them  as  a 
race — his  own  mother  was  an  Armenian — but  because  he 
thought  that  they  were  becoming  politically  dangerous,  and 
because  he  wished  to  nourish  the  spirit  of  Pan-Islamism  with 
a  little  Christian  blood. 

The  Albanians  he  kept  in  hand  by  taking  the  best  of 
their  manhood  to  serve  in  his  own  highly-paid  bodyguard. 

In  Macedonia,  which  was  inhabited  for  the  most  part  by 


TURKTSH  JUSTICE?  43 

Greek  and  Bulgarian  Christians,  he  pursued  a  poHcy  of 
rigid  repression  which  effectually  stifled  the  economic  and 
intellectual  progress  of  the  province.  The  different  vilayets 
were  abandoned  to  the  tender  mercies  of  corrupt  Pashas, 
whose  instructions  were  to  extort  the  uttermost  farthing 
from  their  Christian  subjects.  The  principal  instruments  of 
extortion  which  the  Pashas  employed  were  the  army,  the 
law,  and  the  roads.  Any  Christian  with  property  was  liable 
to  be  seized  and  imprisoned  repeatedly,  each  time  having 
to  pay  the  tax  for  exemption  for  military  service,  irrespective 
of  the  number  of  occasions  on  which  he  had  already  paid  all 
that  was  due  from  him. 

Christian  landowners  also  frequently  found  that  their 
property  had  been  claimed  by  a  Mahommedan,  who  was  in 
reality  an  agent  of  the  courts.  The  claimant  would  produce 
perhaps  twenty  professional  witnesses — of  whom  a  large 
number  were  attached  to  every  court — in  support  of  his 
claim,  and  the  landowner  would  find  himself  involved  in 
litigation  culminating  probably  in  the  loss  of  his  land,  and 
even  imprisonment,  unless,  being  wise  in  his  generation,  he 
went  immediately  to  the  judge  and  paid  his  price,  in  addition 
to  rewarding  the  claimant  and  his  regiment  of  professional 
witnesses. 

Then,  too,  light  women  of  Christian  origin  were  induced 
to  supplement  the  wages  of  sin  by  coming  to  court 
to  swear  that  they  were  Mahommedans  and  had  been 
violated  by  a  number  of  unfortunate  Christians  who  had 
fallen  victims  to  their  charms.  This  is  a  capital  offence  in 
Turkey,  and  the  whole  lot  were  immediately  arrested  and 
left  to  rot  in  gaol,  until  such  time  as  their  families  should 
purchase  their  freedom. 

Road-building,  however,  was  the  sport  in  which  the 
Pashas  most  dehghted.  The  order  would  go  out  from  the 
Sublime  Porte    that  a  road  was  to  be  built — say,  from 


44  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

Monastir  to  Uskub.  The  simplest  way  to  construct  it  was 
by  means  of  the  corvee,  and  a  few  weeks'  work  from  the 
inhabitants  of  each  village  would  probably  have  completed 
the  road.  But  this  did  not  suit  the  Pashas,  so  they  took  the 
peasants  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Monastir  and  sent  them 
to  work  around  Uskub,  while  the  peasants  from  Uskub 
were  sent  into  the  Monastir  district.  There  these  unfor- 
tunates were  left  without  provisions  or  instructions  until 
such  time  as  they  should  begin  to  murmur  at  their  treat- 
ment. The  Pasha  at  once  announced  that  a  revolt  had 
broken  out,  and  would  descend  with  a  swarm  of  gendarmes 
and  Bashi-Bazouks  upon  the  villages  of  the  unfortunate  men 
of  the  corvee,  pillaging  their  homes  and  confiscating  all  that 
they  could  lay  their  hands  on.  In  the  end  the  road  would 
remain  unbuilt,  while  the  Pasha  and  his  minions  pocketed 
about  five  times  the  amount  of  money  necessary  for  its 
construction. 

It  is  only  fair  to  say  that,  in  the  Mahommedan  province 
of  the  Empire,  the  unfortunate  Mussulmans  were  equally,  if 
not  more,  oppressed  by  the  Pashas  and  other  officials. 

Gradually,  and  as  education  spread  in  Macedonia,  the 
Macedonian  revolutionary  committee  sprang  into  existence, 
and  unrest  among  the  Christian  population  became  wide- 
spread. Then  the  Nero  of  the  Bosphorus  set  in  motion  his 
pet  policy  of  atrocities,  in  order  to  crush  the  spirit  of  the  rebel- 
lious Macedonians,  with  every  refinement  of  cruelty.  Word 
was  passed  to  the  Bashi-Bazouks  to  massacre  and  plunder 
the  Christians,  which  they  at  once  proceeded  to  do  with  the 
best  will  in  the  world. 

The  Albanians,  also,  were  told  that  there  was  no  objection 
to  their  crossing  the  frontier  and  enjoying  themselves  in 
Macedonia,  which  they  proceeded  to  do  with  the  peculiar 
ferocity  of  this  race.  A  typical  example  of  the  atrocities 
is   that  of  the   three   Albanian   landowners,   who,   having 


MIGRATION  OF   THE   CHRISTIANS  45 

drunk  rather  too  freely  at  luncheon,  went  out  into  the 
fields  and  started  shooting  at  their  Christian  labourers, 
three  of  whom  were  wounded  and  one  killed.  When  an 
old  workman  cried  shame  on  them,  saying  that  the  dead 
man  had  left  a  wife  and  children  to  starve,  they  became 
penitent,  and,  sending  for  his  family,  proceeded  to  kill  them 
also  to  save  them  from  the  horrors  of  penury. 
But  the  Turks  had  yet  to 

"  Learn  in  some  wild  hour 
How  much  the  wretched  dare." 

Many  of  the  Christians,  after  seeing  their  houses  burned 
and  their  women  outraged,  took  to  the  mountains,  and, 
forming  themselves  into  bands,  offered  effective  resistance  to 
the  Turkish  police  and  Bashi-Bazouks.  Then  Abdul  Hamid 
sent  an  army  to  subdue  the  province,  and  in  1901  no  fewer 
than  100,000  Turkish  soldiers  were  quartered  in  Macedonia. 

As  the  Government  failed  to  provide  these  soldiers  vdth 
any  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  they  soon  started  to  roam 
about  the  country  pillaging  the  peasants  for  food — although, 
being  drawn  from  among  the  peasants  of  Anatoha,  they 
were  by  nature  the  kindliest  and  gentlest  of  men.  The 
situation  was  further  complicated  by  the  fact  that  the  Greek 
Christians  started  to  massacre  the  Bulgarians,  and  the 
Bulgarians  the  Greeks,  while  both  equally  massacred  and 
were  massacred  by  the  Turks.  So  that  complete  anarchy 
reigned  in  Macedonia,  and  Abdul  Hamid  had  attained  his 
object,  in  that  he  had  rendered  the  province  too  weak  to 
revolt  against  his  will. 

Things  became  so  bad  that  by  1902  the  major  portions  of 
the  educated  Bulgarians  had  migrated  across  the  frontier  to 
Sofia,  where  they  filled  many  important  positions.  In  that 
year  20,000  out  of  Sofia's  population  of  60,000  were  refugees 
from  Macedonia,  and  their  total  number  in  Bulgaria 
exceeded  200,000.     The  sight  of  half-starving  Macedonian 


46  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

refugees  arriving  at  the  frontier  with  fearful  tales  of  persecu- 
tion and  outrage  excited  the  most  intense  feehng  among  all 
sections  of  the  Bulgarian  and  Servian  populations.  It  is, 
in  fact,  twenty  years  since  these  two  little  States  first 
started  arming  with  the  definite  purpose  of  ending  an 
intolerable  situation,  and  of  winning  freedom  for  their 
fellow  Slavs  in  Macedonia. 

The  expediency  of  declaring  Macedonia  an  autonomous 
province  was  more  than  once  discussed  among  the  Powers, 
but  on  each  occasion  they  allowed  themselves  to  be  seduced 
into  inaction  by  that  red-handed  old  tyrant  of  Yildiz  Kiosk, 
Abdul  Hamid,  who  used  to  meet  their  ultimata  with  a 
semblance  of  penitence,  and  produce  an  elaborate  scheme  of 
reform  for  Macedonia,  which  was  immediately  afterwards 
restored  to  the  shelves  of  the  Sublime  Porte,  until  such  time 
as  another  ultimatum  necessitated  its  re-appearance  in 
public. 

Fortunately  for  him,  the  Powers  were  at  this  time  too 
much  occupied  with  their  own  schemes  of  robbery  to  bother 
about  Macedonia.  England  had  the  Boer  War  on  her  hands, 
Russia  was  busy  making  conquests  in  the  Far  East,  and  the 
German  Emperor  was  busy  fraternising  with  Abdul  Hamid, 
with  the  object  of  obtaining  railway  concessions  in  Asia 
Minor.  So  that  in  the  end  all  that  was  done  was  the 
creation  of  an  international  gendarmerie  in  that  country. 

All  this  time,  unobserved  by  the  Powers — save  perhaps 
by  Russia  and  Austria — the  little  Slav  nationalities  of  the 
Balkans  were  arming,  arming,  arming,  and  looking  forward 
to  the  moment  when  they  could  start  their  heroic  crusade 
against  the  putrefying  Colossus  of  Turkey,  and  win  freedom 
for  their  brethren  in  Macedonia. 

In  1908  came  the  Young  Turk  revolution,  which  was 
heralded  as  the  dawn  of  a  golden  age  for  the  Ottoman 
Empire.    Racial  animosities  were  to  disappear,  constitutional 


THE  ATTACK  ON  THE  KORAN     47 

government  was  to  take  the  place  of  a  soul-killing  despotism, 
the  finances  and  the  army  were  to  be  reformed,  and  a  new 
Turkey  was  to  rise  like  a  phoenix  from  the  ashes  of  the 
old  regime.  Government  by  "  atrocities  "  was  to  end,  and 
so  confident,  or  rather  ignorant,  were  the  ambassadors  of 
the  Powers  that  they  allowed  the  international  gendarmerie 
to  be  abolished,  upon  which  the  old  atrocities  at  once  broke 
out  again  in  Macedonia.  What  a  harvest  of  disillusionment 
the  Young  Turks  were  destined  to  reap  I  Their  Western 
education  had  taught  them  to  care  nothing  for  the  Koran, 
and  so,  in  the  circumstances,  they  saw  no  reason  why  the 
different  races  of  the  Empire  should  not  become  united 
despite  the  differences  of  religion  which  had  always  separated 
them. 

They  made  the  same  mistake  that  had  been  made  in  the 
Hatti  Firman  of  1839  ;  they  tried  to  unite  all  their  subjects 
with  the  spirit  of  Ottoman  nationality,  irrespective  of  the 
Ottoman  creed.  They  were  foredoomed  to  failure,  because 
the  Ottoman  has  no  nationality  apart  from  his  religion. 
Islam  is  at  once  his  fatherland  and  his  religion.  So  it  was 
impossible  to  Ottomanise  the  Christian  subjects  of  the 
Empire  without  converting  them  to  Mahommedanism. 

Incidentally,  the  Koran  had  taught  the  Turk  to  consider 
himself  as  belonging  to  a  superior  caste,  so  the  Arabs  of 
the  Lebanon,  among  whom  the  Mahommedan  religion  had 
preserved  a  large  measure  of  its  primitive  purity,  objected 
strongly  to  being  told  that  they  were  brethren  with  the 
despised  Christians  of  Jerusalem  and  straightway  broke  out 
into  open  rebellion. 

The  Albanians,  too,  had  no  desire  to  abandon  their 
proverbial  freedom  and  anarchy  for  the  taxes  and  military 
system  of  a  well-ordered  Government.  They  had  no  objec- 
tion to  belonging  to  the  Turkish  Empire  as  long  as  the 
honour  brought  no  unpleasant  obligations  with  it.     When 


48  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

the  Young  Turks  tried  to  recruit  them  for  service  in  the 
Yemen  they  flatly  refused  to  go  and  fight  against  the  Arabs, 
with  whose  cause  they  rather  sympathised.  So  Albania 
broke  out  into  open  revolt. 

We  have  already  pointed  out  how  in  the  first  glow  of 
good  intentions,  the  Powers  had  consented  to  the  abolition 
of  the  international  gendarmerie  in  Macedonia.  But  the 
Greek  and  Bulgarian  bands  saw  no  fun  in  abandoning 
their  dreams  of  freedom  for  the  sake  of  being  Islamised. 
So  anarchy  broke  out  worse  than  ever,  and  was  compli- 
cated by  the  depredations  of  Turkish  soldiers,  who,  having 
been  sent  to  fight  the  Albanians  and  not  being  supplied 
with  any  food,  became  disbanded  and  prowled  about 
Macedonia  in  search  of  the  necessaries  of  fife. 

The  Young  Turks  were  awakening  from  their  dream  of 
a  golden  age,  to  find  the  Empire  breaking  up  around 
them.  The  possibility  of  Ottomanising  the  Turkish  Empire 
had  passed  for  ever.  The  Ottoman  population  only 
equalled  about  one-third  of  the  total  population  of  the 
Empire,  and  so  dead  was  the  spirit  of  Islam,  so  incapable 
the  Turks  of  government,  that  for  sixty  years  Turkey's 
Grand  Viziers  had  been  almost  exclusively  Christians, 
Catholic  Albanians,  Jews,  Armenians,  or  Greeks. 

In  other  ways  the  Young  Turk  Revolution  dealt  a 
serious  blow  at  the  old  faith  of  Islam.  First  of  all  the 
committee  dethroned  Abdul  Hamid,  who,  despite  his  corrupt 
and  cruel  government,  was  none  the  less  respected  by  his 
people  as  a  religious  symbol.  In  his  stead  they  tried  to 
set  up  a  constitutional  Government,  which  was  manifestly 
absurd  in  a  nation  consisting  of  thirty-two  different  races, 
and  where  the  only  education  of  the  majority  of  the 
people  consists  in  a  mechanical  knowledge  of  a  few 
religious  shibboleths. 

The  doctrines  of  the  Young  Turks   were   in  no  sense 


"OUR  HOME   IS   ANATOLIA"  49 

national.  They  were  but  lightly  planted  in  a  thin  soil  of 
European  customs  and  beliefs,  and  had  no  root  in  the 
fertile  flower  garden  of  picturesque  customs  and  beliefs, 
which  was  Islam.  To  the  masses  of  the  Mahommedan 
subjects  of  the  Empire,  the  rule  of  the  Young  Turks 
meant  little  less  than  foreign  domination. 

In  the  old  days,  when  the  soldiers  of  Islam  marched  to 
war  they  marched  at  the  call  of  the  Padisha  to  do  battle  in 
the  sacred  cause  of  Islam  against  giaours  whom  they  had 
been  taught  to  despise  and  hate.  They  marched  with 
enthusiasm  because,  although  perhaps  personally  they  had 
no  interest  in  the  war,  they  were  marching  to  fulfil  a 
religious  obligation.  On  the  present  occasion  they  were 
marching  at  the  orders  of  a  Government  in  whom  they  had 
no  belief  to  do  battle  against  Christians,  whom  they  had 
been  told  to  regard  as  brethren,  for  a  land  in  which  they 
had  no  interest. 

So  little  interest  in  Turkey  in  Europe  have  the  Turks 
from  Asia  Minor,  that  on  one  occasion  when  an  officer 
endeavoured  to  excite  his  men  by  telling  them  they  were 
fighting  for  their  country,  the  men  replied,  "  But  this  is  not 
our  country ;  our  country  is  in  Anatolia." 

In  1911  Italy  made  her  sudden  descent  on  Tripoli,  and 
in  October,  1912,  the  Balkan  League,  judging  the  moment 
propitious,  began  their  twentieth  century  crusade  for  the 
liberation  of  Macedonia,  to  the  horror  and  astonishment  of 
the  virtuous  Western  Powers,  and  to  the  secret  amusement 
of  Russia,  who,  after  all,  could  reasonably  expect  to  see  one 
day  a  Slavonic  emperor  enthroned  in  Byzantium. 


E 


CHAPTER  V 

V 

THE  MODERN  TURKISH  ARMY 

Amongst  the  radical  changes  which  the  Young  Turks 
hoped  to  bring  about  was  the  complete  reform  of 
the  Army.  To  aid  them  in  their  task,  instructors  were 
hired  from  the  German  Army,  and  the  work  proceeded 
apace.  For  the  first  time  annual  manoeuvres  were  instituted, 
and  I  have  read  a  report  on  those  which  were  held  around 
Adrianople  in  1910,  which  shows  the  army  in  a  very 
favourable  hght.  It  is  WTitten  by  a  French  officer.  How- 
ever, it  is  one  thing  to  manoeuvre  four  divisions  of  picked 
troops  in  time  of  peace,  and  quite  another  to  handle  four 
army  corps  in  time  of  war.  One  of  the  generals  in  com- 
mand in  1910  was  the  unfortunate  Abdullah  Pasha,  and  I 
believe  he  largely  owed  his  promotion  to  the  command  of 
the  army  of  Thrace  to  the  fact  that  he  was  considered  to 
have  done  so  well  in  the  manoeuvres  of  1910. 

As  I  have  already  remarked,  a  study  of  the  military  history 
of  the  Ottoman  Empire  during  the  past  century  will  show  that 
the  Turks  have  always  been  beaten  in  war — with  the  single 
exception  of  the  war  with  Greece  in  1907 — but  that  isolated 
bodies  of  troops,  when  well  commanded  and  placed  behind 
entrenchments,  have  often  put  up  the  most  heroic  resistance. 
This  seems  to  point  to  the  fact  that  the  senior  officers  have 
never  been  capable  of  handling  large  bodies  of  men;  that 


THE   OLD  REGIME  51 

grand  strategy  in  war  is  almost  unknown  in  Turkey,  and 
that  the  soldier  himself  lacks  that  dash  and  initiative  in 
offensive  movements  which  are  so  characteristic  of  the 
French  and  also  of  the  Japanese. 

The  old  type  of  Turkish  soldier  who  existed  up  to  the 
end  of  the  Hamidian  regime  possessed  many  excellent 
qualities  which  rendered  him  individually  a  stubborn  and 
formidable  opponent  for  the  best  of  troops.  He  was 
hardy  and  could  exist  on  rations  which  would  spell 
starvation  for  the  troops  of  any  other  race.  He  was 
willing  and  obedient,  and  would  follow  his  officer  any- 
where. He  was  accustomed  to  look  after  himself  in  the 
field  and  to  regard  the  commissariat  train  as  a  doubtful  ally 
which  might,  but  which  probably  would  not,  be  available 
at  critical  moments  on  a  campaign.  Therefore  he  learnt,  not 
to  be  dependent  on  it,  but  to  shift  for  himself,  to  collect 
provisions  when  they  were  available,  and  to  husband  them 
carefully  against  a  rainy  day.  He  cared  little  about  the 
outward  trappings  of  war.  In  appearance  he  was  slovenly 
to  a  degree  which  would  have  made  the  Potsdam  Guards 
blush  with  shame  and  horror  ;  but  on  a  campaign  each  man 
collected  those  articles  of  clothing  and  more  especially  of 
foot-gear  which  he  found  the  most  useful  and  the  most 
comfortable. 

Thus,  even  as  late  as  the  war  with  Greece  in  1907,  it 
was  very  seldom  one  saw  a  battalion  with  a  common 
uniform.  The  troops  resembled  a  collection  of  unemployed 
on  a  hunger  march  rather  than  a  regular  army.  Some  of 
the  men  wore  boots,  some  sandals,  some  merely  had  rags 
tied  round  their  feet,  and  some  preferred  to  go  barefooted. 
Of  tactics  and  battalion  manoeuvres  the  Turks  knew  little 
and  cared  still  less.  In  their  place  they  possessed  a  natural 
instinct  for  war  which  caused  them  to  stick  together  in 
moments  of  emergency  and  invariably  to  choose  a  strong 

e2 


52  WITH   THE  TURKS   IN  THRACE 

defensive  position  without  having  to  have  the  ground 
carefully  selected  for  them  by  their  officers. 

The  old  regular  battalions  possessed  another  great 
advantage,  namely,  that  the  men  served  together  for  very 
long  periods  at  a  time,  knew  and  trusted  one  another,  and 
resembled  a  large,  united,  and  happy  family.  Great  numbers 
of  the  men  served  long  beyond  the  period  rendered  com- 
pulsory by  the  conscription.  This  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
no  register  of  births  existed  throughout  the  Ottoman 
Empire  under  the  Hamidian  regime  and  therefore  many 
were  able  to  escape  the  conscription  altogether,  while 
others  were  able  to  purchase  exemptions,  with  the  result 
that  the  authorities,  in  order  to  fill  the  ranks,  often  kept 
unfortunate  paupers  with  the  colours  after  their  time  was 
up,  or  would  force  them  to  serve  afresh  after  they  had 
been  released  from  their  first  term. 

The  officers  of  the  old  Turkish  Army  were  on  a  par 
with  their  men.  They  were  superannuated,  ignorant, 
almost  untrained,  totally  devoid  of  any  knowledge  of  the 
science  of  war  and  slovenly  in  their  outward  appearance. 
They  served  in  the  junior  grades  of  subaltern  and  captain 
all  their  lives,  but  few  ever  obtaining  promotion,  in  fact, 
the  majority  never  expected  promotion  and  were  quite 
content  to  fill  their  humble  roles.  A  very  large  proportion 
also  were  promoted  from  the  ranks,  and  had  nothing  to 
qualify  them  save  their  knowledge  of  the  men.  They 
served  for  years  in  the  Yemen,  in  Macedonia  and  in  the 
wilds  of  the  Caucasus,  forgotten  by  the  War  Office,  often 
going  for  long  periods  without  their  pay,  but  nevertheless 
faithful  to  Islam. 

These  old  officers  were  the  backbone  of  the  old  Turkish 
Army.  They  knew-  their  men  and  were  respected  and 
loved  by  them.  On  a  campaign  the  men  had  the  most 
implicit  confidence  in  them,  and  would  follow  them  anywhere. 


THE   GERMAN   MODEL  53 

The  whole  army  marched  to  war  at  the  command  of  the 
Padisha,  not  in  defence  of  the  territorial  possessions  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire,  but  in  the  cause  of  Islam  against  the 
infidel.  Such  was  the  old  army  which  generally  managed 
in  the  midst  of  reverses  to  cover  itself  with  glory  and  to 
maintain  the  reputation  of  the  Turkish  soldier  for  stubborn 
courage. 

The  advent  of  the  Young  Turks  to  power  brought  about 
changes  in  the  character  of  the  army,  which  have  had  the 
most  disastrous  results  during  the  present  campaign.  An 
army  can  only  be  reformed  from  the  top,  not  from  the 
bottom,  but  the  Young  Turks  tried  to  change  the  rank  and 
file  without  first  reforming  the  War  Office  and  creating  a 
General  Staff;  for  without  efficient  organisation  and  leader- 
ship, all  drastic  reforms  in  the  men  and  material  must 
necessarily  be  wasted  in  time  of  war. 

The  Young  Turks  wished  to  create  an  army  on  the 
model  of  the  German,  without  stopping  to  consider  if  the 
material  they  were  handling  could  be  moulded  into  a  new 
form  without  destroying  all  the  durable  qualities  which 
had  so  often  saved  the  Empire  from  complete  disaster  and 
disruption  in  the  past.  They  set  themselves  the  task,  with 
the  aid  of  German  instructors,  of  substituting  a  national 
spirit,  based  on  the  territorial  boundaries  of  the  Empire, 
for  the  old  cry  of  Islam,  which  had  so  often  aroused  the 
patriotism  of  the  Turkish  soldier  in  the  past,  and  of  sub- 
stituting science,  tactics,  and  the  stern  discipline  of  Prussia 
for  the  old  natural  instinct  for  war  and  self-rehance  which 
had  characterised  the  troops  of  the  old  regime.  They 
thought  that  by  changing  the  outward  trappings  of  the 
soldier ;  by  clothing  him  in  the  most  modern  of  khaki 
uniforms  ;  by  placing  putties  round  his  legs  and  boots  on 
his  feet,  and  a  khaki-coloured  kalpack  on  his  head  in  place 
of  the  traditional  fez,  and  generally  making  him  outwardly 


54  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

up-to-date  in  appearance,  they  could  construct  an  army  on 
the  model  of  the  German,  equal  to  it  in  efficiency  and 
ability  for  the  grand  manoeuvres  of  war. 

It  was  the  outward  appearance  of  the  soldiers  as  they  left 
Constantinople  for  the  front,  which  led  so  many  critics  to 
believe  that  the  Turkish  army  was  highly  organised  and  more 
than  capable  of  holding  its  own  against  the  Allies.  Truly 
the  appearance  of  some  of  the  battalions,  as  they  paraded  on 
the  great  square  in  front  of  the  War  Office  before  marching 
to  the  railway  station,  was  magnificent,  and  seemed  to  ensure 
success.  The  Turk  is  naturally  big  and  deep-chested,  and 
when  clothed  in  khaki  with  his  great-coat  strapped  to  his  back, 
with  the  peculiar  headgear  consisting  of  a  kind  of  combined 
shawl  and  hood,  which  could  be  passed  over  the  kalpack  to 
protect  him  from  the  cold,  and  which  added  several  inches 
to  his  height,  and  with  his  brand-new  Mauser  rifle  at  his 
shoulder,  he  looked  a  warrior  of  which  any  nation  might 
be  proud. 

But  a  closer  examination,  more  especially  when  the  troops 
were  on  the  march,  showed  defects  which  were  not  at  first 
apparent.  The  uniforms,  which  on  parade  seemed  to  fit  so 
closely  and  to  be  so  comfortable,  soon  began  to  lose  their 
smart  appearance  and  to  sag  ominously ;  the  men  began 
to  stoop  under  the  weight  of  ill-fitting  knapsacks  held  to 
their  backs  by  unaccustomed  straps,  and  to  fret  at  the  great- 
coats slung  round  their  bodies.  Ill-arranged  putties  began 
to  get  loose  and  to  flap  round  the  legs  of  the  marchers,  who 
looked  down  at  them  in  dismay,  and  after  a  few  hundred 
yards  many  were  already  limping  from  sore  feet,  and  hating 
the  sight  of  their  new  boots.  Many  of  the  reservists 
carried  their  Mauser  rifles  in  that  gingerly  manner  in  which 
a  man  will  hold  a  young  child,  if  suddenly  called  upon  to  do 
so,  being  totally  unaccustomed  to  this  new  army,  and  having 
been  schooled  in  the  simplicity  of  the  old  Martini, 


CHANGES    IN   PERSONNEL  55 

Thus  long  before  the  station  was  reached  the  illusion  had 
vanished,  and  it  was  obvious  that  these  Anatolian  peasants 
were  being  sent  to  the  front  ill-trained  and  ill-disciplined, 
with  ill-fitting  and  unaccustomed  kits,  and  armed  with  a  rifle 
which  but  a  small  proportion  knew  how  to  handle.  From 
the  very  first  we  noticed  a  remarkable  shortage  of  officers. 
Whole  battalions  would  be  equipped  and  drilled,  and 
marched  off  with  hardly  one  officer  per  company. 

In  their  dealings  with  the  old  type  of  regimental  officer 
the  Young  Turks  made  the  most  fatal  mistake  of  all. 
Because  they  saw  European  armies  with  young  regimental 
officers  who  enjoyed  steady  promotion,  they  said,  "  We 
must  get  rid  of  all  these  old  subalterns  and  captains  who  were 
promoted  from  the  ranks,  and  who  are  old  enough  to  be 
colonels  and  generals,  and  replace  them  by  young  officers." 
Therefore,  with  a  stroke  of  the  pen  they  placed  all  the 
regimental  officers  over  a  certain  age  in  retirement  before 
they  had  a  sufficiency  of  young  officers  to  take  their  place. 
Thus  for  the  last  three  years  the  Turkish  Army  has  been 
woefully  short  of  officers,  and  when  the  war  broke  out  it  was 
no  fewer  than  two  thousand  below  its  proper  establishment. 

This  fatal  step  destroyed  the  efficiency  of  the  battalions 
to  a  lamentable  extent.  The  old  idea  of  the  battalion 
being  a  happy  family,  where  men  and  officers  knew 
one  another  and  had  served  together  for  many  years,  dis- 
appeared, and  the  confidence  of  the  men  was  shaken  by  the 
introduction  of  a  younger  generation  with  new  ideas  of 
discipline,  which  did  its  utmost  to  impress  on  the  men 
that  the  significance  of  their  faith  was  as  nothing,  compared 
with  the  necessity  of  maintaining  the  territories  of  the 
Empire  intact. 

Neither  was  the  new  generation  of  officers  prepared  to 
lead  the  lives  of  their  predecessors,  who  always  remained 
with  their  battalions   and   shared  the  hardships   and    dis- 


56  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

comforts  of  their  men.  The  one  idea  of  the  new  type  of 
officer  was  to  obtain  a  billet  on  the  Staff  which  would  give 
him  an  easy  berth,  and  they  spent  every  spare  moment  they 
could  obtain  in  applying  for  leave  and  hastening  to  Con- 
stantinople, where  they  delighted  to  parade  their  fine  new 
uniforms  among  the  foreigners  in  the  cafes  and  hotels  of 
Pera,  for  even  Stamboul  no  longer  possessed  attraction  for 
their  Europeanised  minds. 

Large  numbers  of  officers  were  also  sent  to  be  educated 
in  Berlin,  Vienna,  and  Paris,  and  this  move — sound  in 
theory — has  also  had  a  highly  detrimental  effect  on  the 
character  of  the  Turkish  officers  and  discipline  of  the  Army. 
The  primitive  fighting  virtues  of  an  Oriental  race  almost 
invariably  disappear  in  the  ratio  in  which  the  individuals  are 
brought  in  contact  with,  and  imbibe  the  ideas  of,  more 
civilised  communities.  We  saw  this  among  the  European- 
trained  Japanese  officers  in  the  Russo-Japanese  War,  and 
we  see  it  still  more  clearly  marked  in  the  case  of  the  Turk. 
A  few  years  amongst  the  gaieties  of  the  capitals  of  Europe 
invariably  gives  the  Turkish  officer  a  distaste  for  the  hard  life 
and  poor  fare  of  his  own  country.  His  faith  in  his  religion 
disappears,  and  his  patriotism  weakens  because  he  asks  him- 
self, "  What  am  I  fighting  for  ?  Merely  a  worn-out  religion 
and  a  crumbling  empire  which  offers  me  none  of  the 
attractions  provided  by  the  higher  civilisations." 

But  worse  than  this.  Having  received  a  scientific  military 
training  and  having  been  brought  into  contact  with  European 
armies  and  European  methods,  he  returns  to  his  own  country 
full  of  his  own  importance  and  possessed  with  a  profound 
contempt  for  his  less  fortunate  comrades  who  have  not 
received  the  same  education  as  himself.  He  believes  himself 
to  be  their  superior  because  of  his  theoretical  knowledge,  and 
entirely  forgets  that  all  theoretical  knowledge  is  quite  wasted 
without  practical  experience  of  regimental   Hfe    and    the 


THE   OCCIDENTAL   ORIENTAL  57 

handling  of  troops  in  the  field.  His  natural  desire  is  to 
avoid  serving  with  his  regiment  at  any  price.  He  feels 
that  only  a  billet  on  the  Staff  is  good  enough  for  him, 
for  this  will  not  only  enable  him  to  show  his  scientific 
knowledge  of  war,  but  also  to  remain  in  the  capital 
and  to  live  under  conditions  which  approximate  more  closely 
to  those  he  has  been  accustomed  to  in  the  European  capitals. 
If  he  is  obliged  to  join  his  regiment  he  looks  upon 
his  superior  officers,  trained  in  the  old  school,  with  con- 
tempt, considering  himself  vastly  their  superior.  He  is 
continually  levying  veiled  criticisms  at  his  superiors,  and 
undermining  the  discipline  of  the  regiment  by  the  open 
disapproval  he  displays  for  the  orders  he  receives.  His 
outwardly  smart  appearance  is  in  glaring  contrast  with  the 
slovenly  uniforms  of  his  comrades,  and  he  feels  himself 
entirely  out  of  harmony  with  those  whom  he  now  regards, 
from  his  enlightened  standpoint,  as  little  better  than 
barbarians.  In  consequence  of  the  fatal  step  of  having 
got  rid  of  nearly  aU  the  old  officers  without  having  others 
to  take  their  place,  whole  battalions  left  for  the  front 
with  hardly  any  officers  at  all,  whilst  the  cafes  and 
hotels  and  streets  of  Pera  and  Stamboul  were  crowded 
with  young  officers  in  beautiful  uniforms,  who  had  nothing 
in  particular  to  do,  who  were  too  proud  to  serve  with 
their  regiments  and  who  had  nominal,  or  were  awaiting 
billets  on  the  staff.  Many  of  them  never  went  near  the 
front,  and  many  who  eventually  did  find  their  way  up  there, 
only  stayed  for  a  few  days  and  seized  the  first  available 
opportunity  to  return  to  the  more  congenial  haunts  of 
Pera,  where,  over  coffee,  liqueurs  and  cigars,  they  would 
describe  the  lamentable  state  of  the  army  to  an  admiring 
circle  of  friends,  and  explain  the  causes  which  led  to  its 
defeat,  without  realising  that  they  themselves  were  largely 
responsible  for  the  debacle. 


58  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

In  the  early  stages  of  the  war  many  officers,  as  soon  as 
the  retreat  on  Chataldja  had  begun,  left  the  front  without 
leave  and  hastened  to  Constantinople,  without  reporting 
themselves  to  anyone.  Thus  the  generals  had  no  idea 
what  had  become  of  them  and  could  take  no  steps  to 
recall  them  to  the  front.  This  finally  became  such  a 
scandal  that  Nazim  Pasha  took  drastic  steps  to  check  the 
evil.  No  officers  were  allowed  to  leave  without  permission, 
and  they  were  obliged  to  report  themselves  to  the  War 
Office  on  their  arrival  in  the  capital. 

This  brief  summary  will  show  the  lamentable  state  of 
the  Turkish  Army  when  the  war  broke  out.  The  Army 
Corps  were  split  up  and  scattered  over  the  Empire ;  the 
battalions  were  short  of  officers ;  the  men  had  lost  confi- 
dence in  themselves  and  in  their  officers,  and,  above  all, 
they  were  called  upon  to  march  to  the  defence  of  territories, 
in  which  they  had  but  little  interest,  for  the  first  time,  not 
because  Islam  was  threatened,  but  because  the  integrity  of 
the  Empire  had  to  be  preserved. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   AUTHORITIES   AND   THE    CORRESPONDENTS 

The  life  of  the  modern  war  correspondent  cannot  be 
described  as  being  exactly  a  bed  of  roses.  The  glorious 
days  of  the  profession,  when  William  Russell  and  Archibald 
Forbes  and  their  like  flourished,  have  gone,  never  to  return. 
Then  the  war  correspondents  were  few  in  number,  their 
papers  were  in  no  great  anxiety  to  receive  news  almost 
before  the  event  to  be  described  had  taken  place,  and  the 
war  correspondent  would  stay  at  the  front  for  a  certain 
period,  then  make  his  way  leisurely  to  the  nearest  pillar  box 
and  slip  in  an  uncensored  letter  describing  his  experiences. 
He  did  very  little  cabling,  except  on  occasions  of  extreme 
importance,  and  then  he  had  the  entire  field  to  himself  and 
had  nothing  to  fear  from  rivals  hastening  to  get  in  their 
despatches  ahead  of  his. 

I  often  wonder  [how  the  great  ones  of  the  past  would 
have  fared  under  modern  conditions,  when  competition  is 
so  keen  that  the  war  correspondent  is  kept  in  a  continued 
state  of  nervous  unrest  from  the  moment  he  arrives  at 
the  scene  of  hostilities  to  that  happy  hour  when  he  receives 
a  cable  to  the  effect  "  come  home  at  once,  spend  no  more 
money  and  all  will  be  forgiven." 

At  the  date  when  war  broke  out  on  October  16th,  some 
thirty-five  odd  correspondents  were  assembled  at  Con- 
stantinople waiting  for  the  first  sound  of  the  guns  and  for 


60  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

the  desired  permission  to  accompany  the  army.  Of  these 
by  far  the  larger  number  represented  Enghsh  papers,  and 
almost  every  journal  of  note  had  a  representative  at  the 
front,  while  some,  like  the  indefatigable  Daily  Mirror,  for 
instance,  had  a  perfect  bevy  of  photographers.  Amongst 
well-known  men  assembled  in  Constantinople  were  Lionel 
James,  The  Times,  M.  H.  Donohoe,  the  Daily  Chronicle, 
Ward  Price,  the  Daily  Mail,  Pilcher,  The  Morning  Post, 
Allan  Ostler,  Daily  Express.  The  French  Press  was  also 
well  represented ;  M.  Rodes  was  there  for  Le  Temps, 
M.  Raymond  for  U Illustration.  The  German  Press  was 
represented  by  Major  von  Zweiter,  and  the  Austrian  by 
Baron  Binder  von  Kriegelstein.  Then  there  were  war 
correspondents  representing  papers  in  Denmark  and  Scan- 
dinavia, also  two  Russian  correspondents  who  were  believed 
by  the  Turks  to  be  officers  on  the  Headquarters  Staff  in 
disguise,  and,  as  soon  as  the  peace  was  signed  at  Ouchy,  an 
Italian  turned  up  to  act  for  the  Corriera  della  Sierra.  It 
will  be  seen  that  we  were  a  very  representative  body. 

Now  it  is  always  necessary  to  pick  out  at  the  start  of 
a  campaign  those  who  are  likely  to  be  formidable  rivals, 
and  those  who  can  be  more  or  less  disregarded  in  the  great 
race  to  get  off  news  first.  For  instance,  I  knew  from  the 
start  that  my  most  dangerous  rivals  on  this  campaign  would 
be  my  old  friend  Lionel  James,  the  doyeii  of  the  war  cor- 
respondents with  the  Turkish  Army,  and  M.  H.  Donohoe, 
the  highly  experienced  correspondent  of  the  Daily  Chronicle. 

It  is  now  generally  the  custom  for  the  representatives  of 
at  least  two  papers  to  work  together  so  as  to  save  expense, 
and  also  to  obtain  that  feeling  of  comradeship  which  is 
always  agreeable  on  a  campaign.  On  this  occasion  Lionel 
James  and  Ward  Price  were  working  together,  the  old 
threepenny  Thunderer  linked  for  the  first  time  with  the 
famous   halfpenny  on  account    of  the   affiliation   between 


•«f  *  "   • 


^^ 


FOREIGN   CORRESPONDENTS  61 

those  two  journals  at  home.  In  these  circumstances, 
Donohoe  and  myself  agreed  to  work  together,  and  it  was  a 
great  relief  to  me  to  feel  I  had  such  a  formidable  and  enter- 
prising rival  acting  as  a  friend  to  share  my  fate  for  better 
or  worse,  rather  than  having  to  keep  an  eye  on  him  all  the 
time  for  fear  he  should  steal  a  march  on  me  over  some 
important  battle. 

The  English  war  correspondents  have  little  to  fear 
from  the  competition  of  their  foreign  rivals.  I  do  not 
wish  in  any  way  to  belittle  the  efforts  of  the  Frenchmen, 
who  are  charming  writers  and  still  more  charming 
companions  ;  but  the  French  system  is  entirely  different 
from  our  own.  They  go  in  very  little  for  cabling, 
they  do  not  spend  nearly  so  much  money  on  their  work, 
and,  therefore,  they  are  hardly  in  a  position  to  compete 
for  speed  with  ourselves.  The  Germans  are  much  the 
same.  They  are  so  wedded  to  discipline  that  they  obey 
every  order  given  them  by  the  authorities,  and,  in  fact,  seem 
hopelessly  at  sea  unless  they  are  being  watched  over  by  the 
Censor  and  his  colleagues.  They  are  themselves  the  first 
to  admit  that  they  lack  that  spirit  of  enterprise,  which 
renders  the  English  Press  supreme  during  campaigns,  when 
every  opportunity  must  be  seized  like  hghtning,  and  not  a 
minute  lost  if  a  rival  is  not  going  to  beat  you  and  obtain  a 
"  scoop." 

The  success  or  failure  of  the  war  correspondent  depends 
almost  always  on  the  preparations  he  has  made  for 
sending  off  news  from  the  front,  before  he  actually  starts  on 
the  campaign,  and  the  men  with  experience  are  always  certain, 
unless  by  a  remarkable  series  of  unforeseen  occurrences,  to 
beat  those  who  are  without  experience  and  who  are  making 
their  first  campaign.  The  campaign  in  Thrace  was  an  object 
lesson  in  this  respect,  and  the  old  hands  scored  time  and  time 
again  over  their  inexperienced  rivals. 


62  WITH  THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

It  is  no  use  starting  for  the  front  with  the  intention  of 
finding  means  to  send  off  news  after  you  have  arrived  on 
the  battlefield,  although  of  course  unexpected  means  which 
you  have  not  included  in  your  pre-arranged  plans  may  present 
themselves,  and  should  be  taken  immediate  advantage  of. 
The  first  thing  the  war  correspondent  should  say  to  himself 
is,  "  Where  is  the  nearest  point  for  sending  off  censored  tele- 
grams, and  where  is  the  nearest  point  for  sending  off  un- 
censored  despatches  should  the  necessity  arise  ?  "  Having 
decided  upon  these  two  points,  he  should  ask  himself  this 
question,  "  What  will  be  the  quickest  means  of  getting  news 
to  the  telegraph  stations  ? "  Having  decided  on  the  most 
suitable  means  of  communication,  he  must  take  steps  to 
complete  the  organisation  necessary  to  carry  his  good  inten- 
tions into  effect. 

It  was  obvious  in  the  present  campaign  that  Constantinople 
was  the  only  place  from  which  to  dispatch  censored  cables, 
and  that  Constanza  in  Roumania  was  the  only  place  from 
which  to  send  uncensored  cables.  The  latter  would  have  to 
be  sent  by  the  Roumanian  boat  which  leaves  Constantinople 
for  Constanza  every  Tuesday,  Thursday,  and  Saturday.  It 
was  obvious,  therefore,  that  if  you  missed  sending  your  cable 
on  Tuesday,  it  could  not  be  sent  until  Thursday,  and  that  if 
you  missed  Thursday,  it  could  not  go  until  Saturday,  and 
that,  if  your  rival  sent  his  by  the  boat  you  had  missed,  he 
would  have  his  news  in  the  paper  two  clear  days  before  you 
could  have  yours. 

There  was  also  one  other  means  of  speeding  up  a  cable, 
namely,  to  have  it  sent  by  wireless  telegraphy  from  the 
Roumanian  boat  to  Constanza,  the  moment  she  was  outside 
territorial  waters.  But  this  was  made  very  little  use  of 
during  the  war,  as  the  wireless  was  found  to  be  far  too 
unreliable  for  long  and  important  messages,  and  cost  two 
shillings  a  word  just  to  reach  Constanza. 


BUYING  A  MOTOR-CAR  63 

It  became  obvious  from  the  start  that  the  authorities  in 
Constantinople  would  only  allow  news  favourable  to  Turkey 
to  be  sent  from  the  capital,  and  that  in  the  event  of  a  reverse, 
Constanza  alone  would  be  available.  The  old  hands,  there- 
fore, made  elaborate  preparations  to  have  their  cables 
dispatched  to  Constanza  with  a  minimum  of  delay. 

Then  we  had  to  consider  how  we  could  get  messages 
rapidly  from  the  front  to  Constantinople,  in  order  that  they 
might  be  sent  on  by  the  Roumanian  boats.  Donohoe  and 
myself  had  many  an  earnest  conversation  on  this  all-important 
subject,  and  finally  decided  that  a  motor-car  was  essential. 
I  will  never  forget  as  long  as  1  live  the  troubles  we  had 
over  obtaining  a  car  suitable  for  a  country  where  roads  are 
non-existent,  and  where  every  ounce  of  petrol  has  to  be 
carried. 

I  first  of  all  entered  into  negotiations  with  the  Pera 
garage  for  the  hire  of  a  car.  I  was  shown  one  which, 
I  was  assured  by  the  Greek  proprietor,  had  frequently 
made  the  road  to  Adrianople  without  difficulty,  and  that 
he  would  guarantee  it  would  do  so  again.  I  mistrusted 
the  look  of  the  old  machine,  but  he  reassured  me,  and 
as  the  price  seemed  reasonable,  namely,  one  hundred  pounds 
per  month,  I  decided  to  hire  it.  The  proprietor  was  exceed- 
ingly anxious  that  I  should  sign  the  contract  and  pay  him 
one  month's  hire  in  advance  without  giving  the  car  a  trial, 
as  he  explained  this  was  quite  unnecessary,  and  he  was  busy 
overhauling  the  machinery  and  repainting  the  chassis.  The 
contract  contained  a  clause  that  in  the  event  of  our  losing 
the  car  or  it  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  we  should 
pay  the  modest  sum  of  £600  by  way  of  compensation. 
However,  I  refused  to  sign  or  to  pay  a  penny  until  Donohoe 
and  myself  had  given  it  an  exhaustive  trial  by  taking  it  out 
on  a  trip  to  San  Stefano. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  trial,  my  brother,  Donohoe,  and 


64  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

myself  repaired  to  the  garage,  where  we  found  many 
mechanics  putting  the  finishing  touches  to  the  old  buz  box 
and  tuning  her  up.  The  owner  had  so  carefully  painted 
and  polished  up  an  old  taxi  -  cab  that  its  material 
defects  were  not  apparent  to  the  inexperienced  eye. 
But  the  bluff  was  short-lived,  for  we  never  reached  the 
Galata  Bridge.  The  old  machine  smoked  and  roared  and 
groaned,  but  could  not  even  take  the  smallest  hills,  and 
finally  caught  fire  in  the  high  street ;  the  tyres  fell  off  at  the 
same  moment,  and  the  chauffeur  announced  that  he  must 
return  for  repairs,  as  he  did  not  quite  understand  the 
machinery.  We  returned  and  told  the  owner  exactly  what 
we  thought  of  him. 

It  turned  out  on  inquiry  that  this  car  was  one  of  the 
original  taxi-cabs  introduced  into  Paris,  and  that,  after 
serving  a  long  term  in  the  Parisian  streets,  it  had  been 
sent  to  the  Near  East.  The  papers  the  owner  had  shown  us 
were  all  forged,  and  the  value  of  the  car  was  perhaps  fifty 
pounds,  yet  he  had  tried  to  get  us  to  pay  £600  in  the  event 
of  its  being  lost. 

We  confided  our  troubles  to  the  obliging  Colonel  Izzet, 
who  was  one  of  the  first  to  advise  us  to  take  a  car  to 
the  front,  declaring  that  it  would  be  invaluable,  as  the 
roads  were  excellent,  and  that  we  could  reach  Adrianople 
in  it  in  about  five  or  six  hours.  Colonel  Izzet  then 
produced  a  sinister-looking  Persian,  whom  he  declared 
was  the  owner  of  a  splendid  new  forty  horse-power 
Panhard  Limousine — the  finest  car  in  Constantinople, 
which  could  go  anywhere  and  carry  any  number  of 
passengers.  He  offered  to  give  us  a  trial  by  motoring  us 
out  that  very  afternoon  to  San  Stefano.  This  we  accepted. 
The  car  went  very  well,  negotiating  all  the  bad  spots  on 
the  road,  passing  through  mud  feet  deep,  and  crawling  up 
all  the  hills  without  much  difficulty. 


THE  MODEST   PERSIAN  65 

Then  came  the  most  troublesome  task  of  all,  namely,  to 
settle  on  the  terms  of  hire  or  purchase.  Colonel  Izzet  acted 
as  our  interpreter  and  intermediary,  and  the  meeting  between 
the  Persian,  Donohoe,  my  brother,  and  myself  took  place 
in  the  War  Office.  The  Persian  turned  out  a  hard  task- 
master and  demanded  the  modest  sum  of  £1000  for  the 
purchase  of  the  car  or  £lO  a  day  for  the  hire  of  it.  As 
these  terms  proved  too  stiff  we  haggled  and  bargained,  and, 
after  threatening  to  break  off  the  negotiations  several  times, 
we  got  the  purchase  price  down  to  £900,  and  the  rate  for  the 
hire  by  the  day  to  £8. 

Finally,  we  decided  to  take  it  for  one  month  on  trial, 
as  we  were  not  wholly  convinced  of  what  value  the  car 
would  be  at  the  front.  Then  a  contract  was  drawn  up  in 
French  by  Colonel  Izzet,  who  took  the  greatest  pains  to  be 
fair  to  us  both.  This  took  an  endless  time,  as  all  sorts  of 
unexpected  difficulties  arose  on  such  questions  as  to  who 
was  to  supply  the  oil,  and  how  much  we  were  to  pay  for  the 
car  in  the  event  of  its  being  captured  or  destroyed.  The 
Persian  insisted  on  a  guarantee  of  £1000,  minus  any  sums 
we  had  paid  by  way  of  hire,  but  finally  we  got  him  down  to 
£850.  At  last  the  contract  was  completed  and  he  was  very 
anxious  we  should  sign  it  then  and  there,  but  this  Donohoe  and 
myself  declined  to  do  until  we  had  made  some  independent 
inquiries  to  find  out  if  the  car  was  really  what  the  owner 
professed  it  to  be. 

That  evening  we  set  our  independent  agents  to  work, 
and  received  two  reports  on  our  prospective  purchase.  It 
was  nearly  four  years  old  and  had  been  the  property  of 
an  Egyptian  prince  for  two  years.  The  prince  finally 
sold  it  for  £450  to  a  merchant  in  Constantinople,  who, 
in  turn,  parted  with  it  a  year  later  to  its  present  owner,  the 
Persian,  for  £350.  The  latter  had  done  it  up  and  had  hired 
it  at  so  much  a  day  to  tourists  visiting  Constantinople.     It 


66  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

was  not  a  forty  horse-power  car  at  all,  but  only  a  twenty. 
This  was  the  car  for  which  our  good  friend  the  Persian 
had  demanded  £1000  or  a  guarantee  of  £850.  Needless 
to  say  when  he  arrived  at  the  Pera  Palace  Hotel  that 
evening,  all  smiles,  with  the  contract  ready  for  signature,  he 
received  a  somewhat  cold  reception  and  was  politely  shown 
the  door. 

This,  however,  did  not  help  Donohoe  and  myself  much,  as 
at  any  minute  we  might  be  allowed  to  start  for  the  front, 
and  without  a  car  how  could  we  hope  to  compete  with  our 
leading  rivals.  The  Times  and  the  Daily  Mail,  who  had  pur- 
chased one  second-hand  for  a  considerable  sum?  It  was 
utterly  useless  trying  to  hire  one,  as  we  knew  we  were  bound 
to  be  swindled,  and  had  no  guarantee  that  the  chauffeur,  who 
was  the  servant  of  the  owner,  would  not  fail  us  at  a  critical 
moment  in  the  campaign,  or  perhaps  even  decline  to  carry 
us  near  to  some  stricken  field. 

I  then  went  to  the  principal  agents  in  Pera  and 
examined  a  new  Panhard  which  they  had  for  sale.  It 
was  an  excellent  car,  having  just  arrived  from  Paris, 
very  strong,  and  of  18-24  horse -power.  The  agents 
were  very  agreeable  and  honest  in  all  their  dealings,  and 
produced  all  the  necessary  papers  from  the  Panhard  Com- 
pany, showing  the  actual  price  they  had  paid  for  the  car,  the 
cost  of  its  passage  to  Constantinople,  and  the  Customs  duty. 
They  consented  to  forgo  half  their  usual  commission,  and 
the  car  became  our  property  for  £700,  which  price  included 
accessories  and  a  spare  pair  of  tyres.  We  thus  had  a  great 
load  off  our  minds  and  could  now  start  on  equal  terms  with 
The  Times  and  the  Daily  Mail. 

Little  did  we  realise  at  the  time  the  endless  trouble  and 
bother  we  would  have  with  the  car,  with  the  various 
chauffeurs  who  attempted  to  handle  it,  and,  above  all,  with 
the  roads,  which  proved  to  be  totally  unsuitable  for  wheeled 


THE   DRAGOMEN  67 

traffic  of  any  sort,  except  a  country  cart  drawn  by  four 
strong  oxen.  However,  let  me  say  here  in  justice  to  the 
car  and  to  our  own  judgment  that  it  saved  us  at  the  most 
critical  moment  of  the  campaign,  and  enabled  us  to  get  off 
the  news  of  the  great  defeat  of  Lule  Burgas  ahead  of  all 
our  rivals.  I  had  two  rides  in  it,  and  Donohoe  two  also, 
and  as  the  price  paid  for  these  rides  was  over  £700,  they 
were  the  most  expensive  journeys  we  had  ever  taken  or  ever 
wish  to  take. 

The  experiences  I  have  just  related  were  typical  of  many 
others  endured  by  us  whilst  we  were  engaged  in  making  our 
preparations  to  leave  for  the  front.  Every  single  detail  had 
to  be  thought  out  beforehand,  and  every  single  article,  from 
a  horse  to  a  tin  of  sardines,  had  to  be  purchased  from  people 
whose  sole  idea  was  to  cheat  and  swindle  you. 

The  fitting  out  of  an  expedition,  the  purchase  of  suitable 
horses,  stores,  and  equipment,  sounds  a  simple  enough  under- 
taking, but,  in  reality,  in  Constantinople  the  task  was  one  of 
stupendous  difficulty,  exhausting  both  to  the  body  and  to  the 
patience.  The  dragomen  you  engage,  who  carry  about  with 
them  pages  of  references,  cannot  be  trusted  a  yard,  and  are 
an  additional  burden,  rather  than  an  assistance.  I  and  my 
brother  had  personally  to  superintend  the  buying  and 
packing  of  every  single  article  we  might  require  for 
the  campaign.  The  country  through  which  the  army  would 
pass  on  its  way  to  Sofia,  which  we  were  assured  was  our 
destination,  would  speedily  be  swept  bare  by  the  passage 
of  two  large  armies,  and  we  had  to  take  everything  necessary 
in  the  way  of  food  supplies  with  us.  I  therefore  bought 
provisions  for  two  months. 

We  had  ample  opportunity  of  studying  the  character  of 
the  Christian  population  of  Constantinople,  both  Greek  and 
Armenian,  and  we  often  wondered  at  the  moderation  of  the 
Turk  at  not  having  exterminated  the  lot  years  ago.     There 

f2 


68  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

is  an  old  saying  amongst  the  Turks  that  it  takes  two  Jews  to 
get  the  better  of  one  Greek,  and  five  Greeks  to  cheat  one 
Armenian.  These  bastard  races,  which  have  dwelt  for 
centuries  amid  a  corrupt  and  effete  civilisation,  having 
no  tradition  of  race,  have  not  the  slightest  trace  of 
a  sense  of  decency  or  honour. 

In  fact,  it  seems  that  almost  everyone  who  comes  in  contact 
with  Constantinople  becomes  corrupted  by  the  atmosphere  of 
dishonesty  and  stagnation.  Even  Europeans  seem  to  develop 
a  sort  of  moral  anaemia  after  a  few  years'  residence  in  the 
Scarlet  City.  The  Turks  of  the  upper  classes,  and  of  the 
official  world,  are  better  than  the  Christians  in  one  sense,  in 
that  they  are  honest  in  their  dishonesty.  They  are  all  open  to 
bribery,  but  can  be  trusted  once  they  have  taken  the  bribe, 
if  they  see  the  opportunity  of  doing  any  further  business  on 
the  same  terms.  Corruption  and  vice  have  flourished  for  so 
many  centuries  in  Constantinople,  that  there  seems  but 
little  hope  of  stamping  it  out.  The  effete  civilisation 
of  Byzantium  corrupted  the  Roman  Emperors  and  the 
Greek  and  the  Ottoman  Dynasties  in  turn,  and,  until  the 
entire  population  is  replaced  by  another,  Constantinople  is 
likely  to  enjoy  her  evil  reputation. 

Before  we  left  we  were  forced  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  best  thing  that  could  happen  to  the  town  would  be 
its  complete  destruction  by  fire,  and  for  the  inhabitants  to 
perish  in  the  flames,  or  to  migrate  in  order  to  make  way 
for  a  different  race.  But  would  this  drastic  step  have  any 
effect  ?  Is  the  character  of  a  race  formed  by  the  climate  ? 
as  Mr.  Maurice  Baring  believes.  These  questions  cannot 
be  dealt  with  here. 

Finally,  after  endless  trouble  our  preparations  were  com- 
pleted, and  we  sat  down  at  the  Pera  Palace  Hotel  to  wait 
in  patience  for  leave  to  join  the  army. 

One  of  the  first  steps  we  took  on  arriving  at  Constanti- 


U'liJto  S.  Askine-id-Bartlett 


Tiii:  Track  'lo  Stamkoui 


\Photo  S.   Ashviead  Barilctt 


OVEUTURNKD   TRAIN. 


^ 


DIPLOMATIC   RED   TAPE  69 

nople — and  it  is  one  of  the  most  important  for  the  war 
correspondent,  to  place  himself  on  a  satisfactory  footing  at 
once — was  to  find  out  the  attitude  of  the  authorities  towards 
us,  and  to  ascertain  what  facilities  would  be  given  us  to  carry 
on  our  work  in  a  legitimate  manner,  and  at  the  same  time 
insure  to  the  newspapers  that  we  represented,  that  they 
should  receive  some  value  for  the  large  sums  expended  on 
sending  us  to  the  Near  East  and  in  fitting  us  out  for  service 
in  the  field. 

I  do  not  intend  at  this  stage  to  deal  with  the  very 
comphcated  question  of  the  future  of  the  war  correspondent, 
but  I  shall  do  so  at  a  later  stage,  when  the  reader  has  been 
able  to  gauge,  from  a  perusal  of  this  work,  the  pros  and  the 
cons  that  both  sides  can  bring  forward  in  favour  of  their 
arguments  for  continuation  or  abolition. 

On  the  occasion  of  our  first  visit  to  the  War  Office,  we 
were  received  most  politely,  but,  at  the  same  time,  informed 
that  all  who  wished  to  accompany  the  army  must  obtain  a 
recommendation  from  their  respective  Embassies.  This  was 
quite  a  reasonable  request,  but  when  I  applied  to  Sir  Gerard 
Lowther,  I  was  informed  by  him  that  he  could  give  no 
recommendation  without  the  sanction  of  the  Foreign  Office 
in  London.  This  really  seemed  a  little  absurd,  Sir  Gerard 
Lowther  having  known  me  personally  for  several  years, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  I  came  fully  accredited  from  the 
proprietors  of  the  Daily  Telegraph.  But  Sir  Gerard 
declared  that,  the  Foreign  Office  having  made  such  a  regula- 
tion, he  must  abide  by  it.  Why  could  not  the  Foreign  Office 
have  informed  newspapers  of  their  intention  before  we  left 
for  the  Near  East  ?  It  caused  a  delay  which  in  this  instance 
did  not  matter,  but  which  might  have  had  very  serious 
results  had  we  been  granted  permission  by  the  Turkish 
Government  to  join  the  army  immediately  after  our  arrival. 
As  it  was,  it  entailed  much  cabling  and  inconvenience. 


70  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

This  little  incident  is  typical  of  the  methods  of  the 
procedure  of  the  British  Foreign  Office  and  Diplomatic 
Service,  which  is  a  gigantic  and  highly  organised  piece  of 
machinery  for  shifting  responsibility  from  one  person  to 
another.  All  other  Foreign  Embassies  appear  to  exist  for 
the  purpose  of  helping  the  subjects  of  their  respective 
nations.  The  British,  on  the  other  hand,  appear  to  exist 
for  the  express  purpose  of  placing  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  anyone  who  applies  to  them  for  assistance.  Then, 
again,  the  British  Embassies  are  invariably  the  worst- 
informed  on  what  is  passing  in  the  country  to  which  they 
are  accredited.  The  British  Embassy  in  Constantinople 
was  a  by-word  in  this  respect.  You  could  obtain  more  or 
less  reliable  news  at  the  French,  and  Austrian,  and  German 
Embassies,  or  could,  at  any  rate,  carry  on  an  intelligible 
conversation  with  someone  who  had  some  knowledge  of 
the  country,  and  who  took  some  interest  in  his  work,  but 
the  inmates  of  the  British  Embassy,  with  one  notable 
exception,  were  always  shrouded  in  a  black  mist  of  blissful 
ignorance  and  seemed  to  feel  a  personal  resentment 
against  the  Turkish  Government  and  all  the  Balkan 
States  for  having  declared  war,  thus  disturbing  the  even 
tenor  of  their  peaceful  and  harmless,  but  almost  useless 
lives. 

The  whole  Service  wants  to  be  thoroughly  reorganised  on 
a  basis  which  would  make  it  of  more  value  to  England  and 
to  English  commercial  enterprises  abroad.  It  is  now  a 
kind  of  happy  hunting  ground  for  youths  who  v^dsh  for  an 
easy  life  amidst  pleasant  surroundings  in  foreign  countries, 
where  they  suffisr  the  fond  illusion  that  their  social  position 
is  bettered  by  being  able  to  print  "  Attache  to  the  British 
Embassy"  on  their  cards.  It  wants  fresh  blood  and  new 
brains,  and  men  trained  in  commerce  and  in  the  fierce 
competition  which  English  merchants  abroad  understand  so  ] 


I 


DELAYS  71 

well.  Then  it  might  be  worth  all  the  expense  and  pomp 
which  now  attach  to   it. 

The  greater  part  of  the  money  spent  by  the  State  year 
after  year  on  ambassadors,  first  secretaries,  second  secre- 
taries, councillors,  dragomen,  and  a  horde  of  lesser  minions, 
is  thrown  into  the  gutter.  Of  course,  amidst  the  gloom  of 
ignorance,  apathy,  and  general  physical  and  mental  debility 
which  hangs  over  our  Embassies  like  a  leaden  pall,  there 
are  some  brilliant  exceptions,  but,  in  the  main,  few  will 
gainsay  the  truth  of  the  strictures  I  have  made  on  a 
Service  which  is  hopelessly  out  of  date  in  this  age  of 
commercial  competition. 

It  was  obvious,  even  after  presentation  of  the  necessary 
letters  of  recommendation  from  the  Embassy,  that  the 
military  authorities  were  determined  to  delay  our  departure 
as  long  as  possible.  Day  after  day  we  visited  Colonel  Izzet 
at  the  War  Office  and  were  informed  by  him  that  a  Code 
of  Regulations  was  being  drawn  up  and  would  be  duly 
presented  to  us,  after  which  passes  to  enable  us  to 
accompany  the  army  would  be  issued  by  the  War  Office. 
Day  after  day  we  waited,  and  on  each  visit  we  were  put 
off  by  an  evasive  reply.  It  recalled  the  long,  dreary  wait 
in  Tokio,  which  I  had  experienced  before  being  allowed  to 
join  the  Japanese  troops  in  Manchuria.  The  Oriental  hates 
to  give  a  decisive  answer  either  by  way  of  assent  or  refusal 
to  a  proposition,  and  prefers  to  keep  negotiations  running  on 
indefinitely. 

But  Lionel  James,  Donohoe,  and  myself  had  aU  had 
previous  bitter  experience  in  the  Russo-Japanese  War  of 
this  love  of  procrastination,  and  were  all  three  deter- 
mined not  to  put  up  with  it  again.  We  decided  to 
make  a  joint  protest  to  the  officers  of  the  General  Staff, 
and,  unless  we  obtained  a  satisfactory  reply,  to  leave  Con- 
stantinople and  to  abandon  our  mission.    This  joint  demarche 


72  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

had  the  desired  effect.  The  War  Office  realised  that  it 
was  ahenating  the  Enghsh  Press,  and  gave  us  a  definite 
assurance  that  we  should  leave  for  the  front  as  soon  as  the 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army  of  Thrace,  Abdullah 
Pasha,  had  started  himself. 

Meanwhile  the  Code  of  Regulations  was  drawn  up,  and 
we  were  all  asked  to  sign  a  document  undertaking  to 
remain  with  the  army  until  the  end  of  the  war.  This 
seemed  rather  hard  on  us,  and  we  pointed  out  to  Colonel 
Izzet  that  our  papers  might  wish  to  recall  us  and  that 
the  South  African  War  had  lasted  no  fewer  than  three  years. 

Colonel  Izzet  reassured  our  minds  on  this  point  in  his 
own  inimitable  manner.  He  said :  "  Do  not  worry,  we 
have  made  this  regulation  in  order  to  discourage  too  many 
correspondents  from  going  to  the  front ;  we  do  not  wish 
to  have  people  remain  up  there  for  a  few  days  and  then 
to  hurry  back  to  give  away  our  military  secrets.  But 
rest  assured,  any  time  you  wish  to  leave  you  have  only  to 
say  you  are  ill,  and  you  will  find  our  doctors  very  lenient, 
more  especially  as  I  shall  be  the  doctor  to  decide  if  your 
state   of  health  warrants  your  leaving  the   army." 

The  next  point  we  raised  was  the  all-important  one  of  the 
censorship  of  telegrams  and  letters  from  the  front.  The 
Regulations  prescribed  that  all  telegrams  must  be  sent  in 
French,  if  they  were  to  pass  over  the  military  wire  to 
Constantinople.  We  pointed  out  that  this  was  a  distinct 
hardship  on  the  English  war  correspondents,  many  of  whom 
possessed  a  most  rudimentary  knowledge  of  that  language, 
and  but  few  of  whom  could  profess  to  write  it  with  any 
attempt  at  accuracy. 

The  kind-hearted  Colonel  Izzet  promised  to  try  to  obtain 
an  English  operator  who  could  handle  our  despatches,  and 
thus  place  us  on  an  equal  footing  with  our  French 
colleagues.     But  this  promise  was  never  carried  out,  and 


THE   REGULATIONS  73 

what  is  more,  as  the  sequel  will  show,  the  Headquarters 
Staff  even  failed  to  provide  a  French  operator,  and  when 
we  reached  the  front  we  were  politely  informed  that  all 
our  messages  must  be  sent  in   Turkish. 

This  was  the  initial  source  of  all  the  bitter  quarrels 
between  the  correspondents  and  the  authorities,  for  it  is  easy 
to  imagine  the  value  a  despatch  would  be  to  a  paper,  which 
was  first  translated  into  bad  French,  then  from  French  into 
Turkish,  and  then  back  again  into  French,  and  finally  from 
French  once  more  into  English. 

Finally,  nearly  all  the  outstanding  questions  were  settled 
or  left  in  abeyance,  and  in  accordance  with  the  demand 
of  the  War  Office  we  were  each  asked  to  subscribe  our 
signatures  to  a  document  in  which  we  promised  to  remain 
with  the  army  until  the  termination  of  the  war,  and  also 
promised  not  to  enter  the  territory  of  any  of  the  belligerents 
engaged  in  hostilities  with  Turkey.  Lionel  James,  Donohoe 
and  myself,  however,  were  too  old  at  the  game  to  give  away 
our  freedom  without  the  certainty  of  corresponding  facilities 
with  which  to  carry  on  our  work,  and  we  each  signed  a 
document  drawn  up  on  much  the  same  lines,  which  allowed 
many  loopholes  of  escape. 

But  even  after  all  the  formalities  had  been  complied  with, 
the  authorities  were  in  no  hurry  to  hand  over  our  passes,  as 
they  feared  we  would  disperse  and  make  for  the  front  on  our 
own  account.  We  were  told  that  a  day  would  be  fixed  for 
our  departure,  and  that  we  would  all  be  sent  north  together 
in  a  special  train  with  our  horses  and  baggage.  We  waited 
patiently  for  this  day,  which  was  a  long  time  in  coming. 

Meanwhile  Colonel  Izzet,  who  was  sincerely  anxious  to 
assist  Lionel  James,  Donohoe  and  myself  in  any  way  in  his 
power,  proposed  that  we  should  take  into  our  employment  a 
special  agent  well-known  to  the  Headquarters  Staff,  who 
would  accompany  us  everywhere  and  act  as  interpreter,  so 


74  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

that  we  could  enjoy  a  measure  of  freedom  greater  than  if  we 
were  tied  up  all  the  time  with  thirty  odd  other  correspon- 
dents. This  gentleman  waited  on  us  at  the  hotel,  and  we 
discovered  that  he  was  a  police  spy  who  was  being  fastened 
on  to  us  to  watch  our  every  movement  and  to  make  reports 
to  the  Staff  on  our  daily  deportment.  Even  at  this  stag^ 
the  Headquarters  had  gained  an  inkling  as  to  who  wouhj 
probably  be  the  dangerous  ones  on  the  campaign,  and  it  wsl^ 
hoped  to  checkmate  any  attempt  we  might  make  to  bring  off 
a  coup  by  this  means.  As  this  gentleman  could  not  speak 
one  single  word  of  English  or  French,  he  was  of  absolutely 
no  value  as  an  interpreter,  and  therefore  we  politely^ 
but  firmly  declined  to  take  him  into  our  service,  more 
especially  as  we  were  expected  to  pay  him  for  spying 
on  us. 

It  was  a  week  after  the  declaration  of  war,  on  October 
16th,  that  Abdullah,  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army 
of  Thrace,  left  for  the  front.  We,  however,  were  destined 
to  enjoy  a  fuller  measure  of  Oriental  procrastination.  On 
Wednesday,  October  16th,  we  were  all  asked  to  attend  at 
the  War  Office  in  order  that  a  photograph  might  be  taken 
of  us  in  one  large  group  for  the  Minister  of  War  to  keep 
as  a  souvenir.  I  expect  he  is  not  so  keen  on  having  it  in 
his  office  now. 

We  were  then  informed  that  the  special  train  would 
be  ready  for  us  on  Friday,  and  we  broke  up  like  a 
crowd  of  happy  schoolboys  dispersing  for  the  summer 
holidays  at  this  good  news.  Friday  came  and  we  were 
told  we  must  wait  until  Saturday,  as  the  railway 
authorities  could  not  find  a  spare  train.  On  Saturday  there 
was  a  further  postponement.  On  Friday  I  had  an  interview 
with  the  aged  Kiamil  Pasha  at  his  private  house.  He  struck 
me  as  being  a  very  shrewd  old  man  with  a  distinct  liking  at 
this  time  for  the  English.     He  told  me  how  he  hoped 


{rhoto   ■■  J\iily  Mh,or 

Nazim  Pasha,  Minister  for  War,  leaving  the  Sublime  Porte  on  the 
Eve  of  Hostilities. 


<^ 


THE   ULTIMATUM  75 

Turkey  would  retain  the  friendship  of  England  throughout 
the  war. 

There  were  rumours  at  this  time  that  Ghazi  Moukhtar 
Pasha  would  shortly  resign,  or  be  driven  from  the  Grand 
Vizierate,  and  that  Kiamil  Pasha  would  replace  him.  In 
consequence  the  old  man's  ante-room  was  packed  with  a 
crowd  of  political  followers  and  office  seekers,  who  were 
hoping  for  places  as  soon  as  the  expected  change  should  be 
made.  On  Saturday  we  were  told  that  there  would  be  a 
further  postponement.  I  spoke  to  Kiamil  on  the  subject  of 
our  departure  for  the  front,  and  he  promised  to  see  the 
Minister  of  War,  Nazim  Pasha,  after  the  council  on  the 
following  day,  and  to  urge  on  him  the  necessity  of  allowing 
us  to  leave  without  further  delay.  On  Saturday  we  were  in- 
formed we  must  wait  for  a  few  days  longer. 

By  this  time  we  were  almost  in  despair,  as  the  fighting  had 
already  commenced  round  Kirk  Kilisse  and  at  any  moment 
we  expected  to  hear  the  news  of  a  decisive  battle.  That 
afternoon  I  went  and  called  on  the  Minister  of  War,  Nazim 
Pasha,  who  received  me  in  his  room  at  the  War  Office. 
He  gave  me  a  definite  assurance  that  we  should  start  on 
Monday,  and  I  hurried  back  to  the  Pera  Palace  Hotel  to 
communicate  the  glad  tidings  to  my  friends.  Monday  came, 
but  no  permission,  and  we  made  further  protests  at  the  War 
Office,  threatening  to  leave  Constantinople  and  to  join  one 
of  the  armies  of  the  Balkan  States,  if  we  were  detained 
longer. 

This  had  a  decisive  effect.  That  very  evening  Colonel 
Izzet  came  to  the  hotel,  and  told  us  that  everything  had 
been  arranged  at  last,  and  that  we  were  to  be  at  the 
Cirkidje  Station  at  half  past  four  in  the  afternoon  of 
Wednesday,  October  23rd,  to  leave  for  Kirk  Kilisse. 

Meanwhile  I  had  been  seized  with  a  violent  attack  of 
fever   and   influenza   and  was   obliged  to  stay  in   bed,  but 


76  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

hoped  to  be  well  enough  to  leave  with  the  others  on  the 
appointed  day.  On  Tuesday  evening  my  temperature  was 
still  high  and  I  was  in  no  condition  to  start,  much  to  my 
mortification.  In  these  circumstances  I  decided  to  send  on 
my  brother  with  all  our  horses,  servants,  stores,  and  camp 
equipment,  and  to  follow  myself  in  the  motor-car  as  soon  as 
I  was  well  enough.  I  will,  therefore,  leave  him  in  due 
course  to  tell  the  story  of  his  departure  from  Constantinople, 
and  of  the  adventures  which  befell  him  en  route  to  Chorion, 
but  before  doing  so  it  will  be  well  at  this  point  to  give  a 
brief  account  of  the  disposition  and  organisation  of  the 
Turkish  armies  at  the  outbreak  of  war,  and  of  the  early 
operations  which  led  up  to  the  final  disaster  of  Lule  Burgas. 


CHAPTER    VII 

THE    EARLY    OPERATIONS 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the  Ottoman  forces  in 
European  Turkey  were  widely  scattered  and  hopelessly 
disorganised.  It  was  the  intention  of  the  general  staff,  had 
they  been  given  sufficient  time  by  the  Balkan  Coalition,  to 
form  four  armies,  namely:  No.  1,  the  Grand  Army  of 
Thrace  ;  No.  2,  the  Army  of  the  River  Struma,  concen- 
trating at  Serres  ;  No.  3,  the  Army  of  the  River  Vodena, 
point  of  concentration  Uskub  ;  No.  4,  the  Army  of  Thessaly, 
point  of  concentration  Elassona. 

I  am  only  concerned  in  this  book  with  the  operations  of 
the  Grand  Army  of  Thrace,  and  I  shall  say  nothing  further 
of  the  fate  of  the  other  three  armies,  except  that  they 
existed  only  on  paper  and  in  the  imagination  of  the 
Headquarters  Staff.  They  were  never  organised  ;  the 
machinery  for  forming  them  was  non-existent ;  they  were 
devoid  of  transport  and  short  of  artillery.  They  were 
little  more  than  hordes  of  undisciplined  men,  short  of 
officers,  badly  commanded  and  incapable  of  either  taking 
the  offensive  or  even  of  holding  a  strong  defensive  position. 
All  three  were  in  turn  defeated  and  broken  up  by  the 
Servians,  Montenegrins,  and  Greeks. 

The  Turks  had  a  pre-arranged  plan  of  campaign  which  they 
were  never  destined  to  carry  out.     It  was  based  on  the  mis- 


78  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

taken  assumption,  which  the  Turks  in  their  self-pride  and 
contempt  for  the  Balkan  States  could  never  get  out  of  their 
heads,  that  neither  Bulgaria,  Servia,  Greece,  nor  Montenegro 
would  ever  dare  take  the  offensive  against  the  Ottoman 
Empire,  but  would  remain  quietly  behind  their  frontiers 
until  the  Turkish  troops  were  mobilised,  concentrated  and 
in  a  position  to  attack  them.  The  Turks  rightly  considered 
that  a  success  against  Bulgaria,  in  Thrace,  would  be  decisive 
throughout  the  whole  theatre  of  war,  and  that,  once  the 
Bulgarians  were  decisively  defeated,  the  whole  coalition  would 
collapse  like  a  pack  of  cards.  Therefore,  from  the  first,  their 
main  efforts  were  devoted  to  mobilising  a  powerful  Field 
Army  for  the  invasion  of  Bulgaria  under  cover  of  the 
fortress  of  Adrianople. 

The  confidence  of  the  Turks  was  amazing.  I  had  an 
interview  with  Nazim  Pasha,  the  Minister  of  War,  a  few 
days  after  the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  and  he  expressed  his 
utmost  confidence  as  to  the  result  of  the  campaign.  He 
said,  "  We  have  only  two  months'  more  good  weather  for 
fighting,  as  it  is  too  cold  in  the  Balkans  for  winter  operations, 
but  that  should  give  us  ample  time  to  cross  the  frontier  and 
take  Sofia." 

Shortly  afterwards,  when  bidding  farewell  to  some  officers 
who  were  leaving  to  join  their  regiments,  Nazim  addressed 
them  as  follows :  "  Farewell,  my  comrades.  Do  not  forget 
to  take  with  you  your  full-dress  uniforms,  because  you 
will  need  them  for  the  grand  entry  into  Sofia  two  months 
from  now." 

These  words  sound  rather  funny  in  the  fuller  know- 
ledge of  the  subsequent  debacle.  But  did  Nazim  really 
beheve  what  he  was  saying,  or  was  he  merely  talking  to 
keep  up  the  spirits  of  the  troops,  and  to  put  a  bold  face 
on  what  he  knew  to  be  a  critical  situation  ?  I  heard,  both 
before  and  after  the  battle  of   Lule  Burgas,  that  he   had 


NAZIM'S   OFFICIAL   BOAST  79 

warned  the  Sublime  Porte  in  the  strongest  language  that 
it  would  be  hopeless  to  take  the  offensive  in  the  present 
state  of  the  army ;  that  it  was  inviting  disaster  to  attempt 
to  concentrate  on  the  line  Adrianople-Kirk  Kilisse,  and  that 
the  only  safe  plan  of  campaign  would  be  to  sit  behind 
the  lines  of  Chataldja  until  the  army  had  been  reorganised 
and  the  picked  troops  brought  up  from  Smyrna,  Trebizond, 
and  other  parts  of  Asia  Minor. 

At  the  same  interview  I  had  with  Nazim  he  assured  me 
that  he  himself  would  personally  command  the  army  of 
Thrace.  Yet,  a  few  days  later,  Abdullah  was  sent  to  fill 
this  thankless  position  and  remained  in  command  until  the 
flight  from  Lule  Burgas  to  Chataldja,  when  he  was 
removed,  or  voluntarily  resigned,  I  do  not  know  which. 

I  have  always  had  a  strong  suspicion  that  Nazim,  anti- 
cipating a  disaster  which  could  not  be  prevented,  purposely 
refrained  from  assuming  the  command  at  the  start  of  the 
campaign  in  order  that  he  might  escape  the  odium  attaching 
to  defeat.  Whether  this  surmise  is  true  or  not,  the  fact 
remains  that  Nazim,  even  after  one  of  the  most  crushing 
disasters  in  military  history,  did  not  resign  his  position  as 
Minister  of  War.  He  not  only  retained  it,  but  also  took 
personal  command  of  the  army  at  Chataldja,  thus  gaining 
the  prestige  of  having  repulsed  the  Bulgarian  attack  on  the 
famous  lines. 

Although  the  Turkish  Headquarters  Staff  never  seem  to 
have  grasped  the  extent  of  Bulgaria's  preparations  for  war 
and  her  ability  to  take  the  offensive  long  before  the  Turkish 
armies  were  in  a  position  to  offer  any  sustained  resistance, 
they  nevertheless  had  anticipated  that  some  Bulgarian 
divisions  might  cross  the  frontier  by  forcing  the  Mustafa 
Pasha  Pass.  But  they  did  not  regard  such  a  move  very 
seriously,  firmly  believing  that  it  must  come  to  a  full  stop  in 
front  of  Adrianople,  which  fortress  they  regarded  as  quite 


80 


WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 


impregnable  and  capable  of  holding  its  own  for  a  long  time 
even  although  faced  with  a  regular  siege. 

Their  confidence  in  the  ability  of  Adrianople  to  hold 
out  has  been  justified  by  future  events.  What  they  entirely 
failed  to  grasp  was  the  ability  of  the  Bulgarians  to  mask 
Adrianople  and  to  concentrate  the  bulk  of  their  forces  south 
of  it,  and  to  fight  a  decisive  battle  with  the  fortress  garrisoned 
by  more  than  fifty  thousand  of  picked  Turkish  troops  in 
their  rear. 

This  certainly  did  appear  to  be  an  extremely  hazardous 
undertaking,  and  few  military  critics  believed  before  the  war 
started  that  the  Bulgarians  would  invade  Thrace,  attack  the 
Turkish  main  army,  and  actually  advance  on  Constantinople 
without  first  reducing  Adrianople.  But  then  the  Bulgarian 
General  Staff  knew  to  the  last  letter  the  utter  state  of 
demoralisation  and  disorganisation  prevailing  in  the  army  of 
Thrace,  and  their  daring  plan  justified  its  conception  by  the 
rapidity  and  certainty  of  its  execution. 

At  this  stage  it  will  be  as  well  to  give  a  brief  summary 
of  the  respective  strengths  of  the  Turkish  forces  and  those  of 
the  Allies.  According  to  General  Von  Bernhardi,  the 
nominal  strength  of  the  Turkish  army  in  time  of  peace  is 
275,000  men.  The  actual  strength  of  the  Nizam,  or  regular 
army,  in  1910  was  as  follows  : — 


Infantry     

...       133,000 

Cavalry       

26,000 

Artillery     

43,000 

Engineers 

4,500 

Special  Troops  (Sultan's  Guards,  &c.)    ... 

7,500 

Commissariat     

3,000 

Various       

3,000 

Total      

...       220,000 

In   addition   to  these   there  were    25,000    men    in    the 
permanent  Cadres,  into  which  the  Redifs  are  incorporated 


THE   TURKISH   ARMY  SI 

when  mobilised,  and  30,000  regular  and  reserve  officers, 
a  total  of  275,000  officers  and  men. 

The  war  strength  of  the  Turkish  Army  is  nominally 
700,000  men,  which  includes  troops  in  Europe,  Armenia, 
AnatoUa,  and  Syria.  Owing  to  the  lack  of  railways,  the 
general  incapacity  of  the  Turks  for  organisation,  and  the 
necessity  of  maintaining  strong  garrisons  in  the  various 
disturbed  districts  of  the  Empire,  probably  not  half  this 
number  could  ever  be  concentrated  in  European  Turkey  in 
time  of  war,  and  not  more  than  300,000  ever  reached 
Constantinople  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  present  struggle. 

In  addition  to  the  regular  army  and  Redif  reserves  there 
is  the  levy  en  masse  (Mustafiz),  consisting  for  the  most  part 
of  old  and  non-effisctive  men,  who  could  only  be  utilised  for 
the  purposes  of  local  defence  and  policing.  Liability  for 
service  begins  at  the  age  of  20  and  lasts  for  twenty  years ; 
nine  years  in  the  Nizam,  followed  by  nine  in  the  Redif  and 
two  in  the  Mustafiz.  The  organisation  of  the  Turkish  army 
is  by  Army  Corps. 

3  Divisions  equal  1  Army  Corps  (war  strength  about  50^000). 
3  Brigades      „       1  Division  (18,000  men). 
3  Regiments  „       1  Brigade  (6,000  men). 
1  Regiment    „      3  Battalions  (2,000  men). 

The  Grand  Army  of  Thrace,  which  should  have  been  con- 
centrated between  Adrianople  and  Kirk  Kilisse  at  the  out- 
break of  hostilities,  ready  to  take  the  offensive  or  to  meet 
the  attack  of  the  Bulgarians,  was,  in  point  of  fact,  hope- 
lessly scattered  and  some  of  its  regular  units  were  never 
brought  together  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  battle  of 
Lule  Burgas. 

The  lack  of  these  trained  battalions  was  largely  responsible 
for  the  crushing  nature  of  that  disaster.  The  Army  Corps 
had  to  be  brought  up  to  war  strength,  which  they  never 
actually  reached,  by  the  incorporation  of  large  numbers  of 


82  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

Reservists,  and  by  the  addition  of  ill- trained  Redif  Divisions. 
The  Grand  Army  of  Thrace  consisted  of  four  Army  Corps, 
the  1st,  2nd,  3rd,  and  4th. 

At  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  the  1st  Corps,  under  Yavir 
Pasha,  was  split  up  as  follows.  The  1st  and  2nd  Divisions 
were  in  Adrianople,  forming  part  of  the  garrison  of  that 
fortress,  and  the  3rd  Division  was  in  Smyrna,  where  it  had 
been  sent  during  the  war  with  Italy  to  meet  a  possible 
descent  of  the  Italians  on  the  coast. 

The  2nd  Army  Corps,  under  Shef  ket  Torgut  Pasha,  was 
also  split  up.  The  4th  Division  was  between  Rodosto  and 
Adrianople  ;  the  5th  at  the  Dardanelles,  and  the  6th  at 
Smyrna. 

The  3rd  Army  Corps,  which  was  placed  under  the  com- 
mand of  Mahmoud  Mukhtar,  was  concentrated  round  Kirk 
Kilisse. 

The  4th  Army  Corps,  under  the  command  of  Abouk 
Pasha,  was  partly  in  garrison  at  Adrianople,  and  during  the 
campaign  one  of  its  Divisions  remained  in  the  fortress  and 
the  other  two  formed  part  of  the  Field  Army  routed  at 
Lule  Burgas. 

Neither  of  the  Divisions  stationed  at  Smyrna  reached 
Thrace  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  campaign,  as  they  did  not 
arrive  at  the  front  until  the  army  fell  back  on  the  lines  of 
Chataldja.  Their  place  was  taken  by  Redif  Divisions,  which 
in  discipline,  training,  and  military  spirit  could  not  compare 
with  the  regular  army. 

According  to  the  same  authority.  General  Von  Bernhardi, 
Bulgaria,  with  a  population  of  4,000,000,  has  an  army  the 
peace  strength  of  which  is  59,820  officers  and  men,  and  the 
war  strength  330,000,  of  which  230,000  are  infantry  and  only 
6,500  cavalry.  The  actual  number  of  men  in  the  artillery 
and  commissariat  trains  is  not  known,  but  the  army  possesses 
884  field  and  siege  guns  and  232  machine  guns.     With  the 


THE   FORCES    OF   THE   COALITION  83 

auxiliary  troops  formed  of  men  between  the  ages  of  forty-one 
and  forty-six,  which  could  be  employed  in  garrisoning 
fortresses,  or  on  the  lines  of  communication,  the  total 
strength  of  the  army  could  be  raised  to  400,000  men. 

Servia,  with  a  population  of  three  millions,  has  an  army 
28,000  strong  in  time  of  peace,  but  this  number  is  seldom 
reached,  and  sinks  in  winter  to  only  10,000  men.  The  war 
effective  strength  of  the  army  is  250,000,  of  whom  165,000 
are  infantry,  5,500  cavalry,  and  the  rest  artillery,  transport, 
etc.  The  Servian  army  possesses  432  field  and  mountain 
guns  (108  batteries  of  four  guns  each).  In  addition,  six  siege 
batteries  of  six  guns  each  and  228  machine  guns.  With 
third  class  reservists  the  total  strength  of  the  army  could  be 
raised  to  300,000  men. 

Greece,  with  a  population  of  2,600,000,  has  an  army  which 
in  time  of  war  can  be  brought  up  to  100,000  men. 

Montenegro,  with  a  population  of  only  250,000,  can  place 
45,000  men  in  the  field,  of  whom  4,000  are  mounted.  There 
are  in  addition  11  reserve  battalions  only  fit  for  service  on 
the  lines  of  communication.  There  are  104  field  and  44 
machine  guns. 

I  shall  not  relate  in  detail  the  extraordinary  rumours  in 
circulation  in  Constantinople  during  those  weary  days  when 
we  were  still  awaiting  permission  to  leave  for  the  front ; 
neither  will  I  give  in  detail  the  appalling  amount  of  false 
information  served  out  by  the  Headquarters  Staff  to  the 
Turkish  Press  in  order  to  calm  the  public,  and  to  bluff 
Europe  into  believing  that  all  was  going  well  with  Ottoman 
arms. 

The  daring  of  these  senseless  fabrications  beats  anything 
ever  attempted  before  in  war.  We  were  told  of  the  bombard- 
ment of  Varna  and  of  the  dispatch  of  a  Turkish  army  thither 
to  invade  Bulgarian  soil  in  order  to  cause  a  diversion  and 
force  some  of  the  enemy's  troops  to  leave  the  neighbourhood 

g2 


84  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

of  Mustafa  Pasha.  We  were  told  of  the  dispatch  of  an  entire 
Army  Corps  to  Media,  in  the  Black  Sea,  under  Mahmoud 
Mukhtar  Pasha,  which  was  to  form  behind  the  Istrandza 
Mountains  and  to  act  on  the  right  flank  of  the  main 
army.  Then  came  successive  victories  over  the  Servians 
at  Kumanova,  the  rout  of  the  Greeks  near  Elassona, 
the  total  disruption  of  the  Montenegrin  army  and  finally 
the  successful  invasion  of  Bulgarian  territory  through  the 
pass  of  Mustafa  Pasha. 

Finally,  it  became  the  fervent  wish  of  every  war  corre- 
spondent in  Constantinople  to  leave  for  the  front  at  the 
very  first  opportunity,  so  that  he  might  pass  from  the 
realm  of  fictitious  rumour,  which  hovered  over  the  city 
like  a  dense  mist,  into  the  realm  of  facts  which  he  might 
see  with  his  own  eyes.  To  have  remained  in  Constantinople 
much  longer  would  have  driven  earnest  seekers  after 
truth  almost  to  despair,  as  it  was  utterly  impossible  to 
trust  any  of  the  official  or  unofficial  news  which  circulated 
hour  after  hour  throughout  the  town.  The  Turks  kept 
up  the  bluff*  right  to  the  last  minute,  and  the  Sultan  issued 
a  proclamation  to  his  armies  ordering  them  to  take  the 
offensive  everywhere  against  "  Our  little  neighbours,  Greece, 
Montenegro,  Servia,  and  Bulgaria." 

The  veil  was  suddenly  lifted  from  all  these  doubts  and 
uncertainties  in  the  most  dramatic  manner  on  Friday, 
October  25th.  On  that  morning  rumours  began  to  circulate 
throughout  the  town  that  Kirk  Kilisse  had  been  captured  by 
the  Bulgarians  and  that  a  Turkish  Cavalry  Division  under 
Prince  Aziz  had  been  almost  entirely  destroyed.  The  day 
will  be  known  in  future  as  Black  Friday,  because  for  the 
first  time  the  authorities  made  no  effort  to  conceal  the  truth 
and  published  an  official  account  which,  of  course,  minimised 
the  full  extent  of  the  disaster,  but  which  nevertheless  did  not 
attempt  to  deny  the  main  facts. 


NEWS   FROM  THE   FRONT  85 

Constantinople  was  profoundly  stirred  by  the  bad  news 
from  all  parts  of  the  theatre  of  war,  and  the  feeling  of 
the  public  was  akin  to  that  of  the  British  people  on 
receiving  the  news  of  the  successive  reverses  of  Colenso, 
Stormberg,  and  Magersfontein  in  a  single  week.  The 
capture  of  Kirk  Kilisse  and  the  retirement  of  the  Army 
of  Thrace  on  Baba  Eski  and  Lule  Burgas ;  the  defeat  of 
Zekki  Pasha's  army  at  Kumanovo,  after  his  reported  victory 
over  the  Servians  three  days  previously,  and  the  advance 
of  the  Greek  Army  on  Classo  came  as  a  complete  surprise 
to  the  Turkish  public. 

To  crown  these  misfortunes,  reports  came  to  hand  that 
the  Albanians  were  wavering  in  their  allegiance,  no  doubt 
influenced  by  the  adverse  turn  events  were  taking  against 
Ottoman  arms.  They  delivered  the  following  ultimatum  : — 
"  We  are  tired  of  the  war  and  of  the  perpetual  disturbances 
in  our  country.  We  do  not  wish  anyone  to  fight  over  our 
lands,  and  unless  we  are  guaranteed  peace  and  liberty 
we  will  call  upon  Austria  to  come  to  our  assistance." 

I  received  confirmation  of  these  reports  in  a  most  dramatic 
and  unexpected  manner.  I  have  already  mentioned  that  my 
brother  had  left  for  the  front  with  the  other  correspondents 
two  days  before,  on  Wednesday,  October  23rd,  and  that 
I  had  been  detained  at  the  Pera  Palace  Hotel  owing 
to  an  attack  of  influenza.  1  was  upstairs  in  my  room 
making  preparations  to  leave  for  the  front  on  the 
following  day,  when  there  came  a  knock  at  the  door 
and  a  very  much  travel-stained  individual  entered  the  room, 
and  handed  me  a  dirty  envelope.  I  tore  this  open  and  found 
three  messages,  one  from  my  brother,  addressed  to  myself; 
one  in  code  from  Lionel  James,  addressed  to  Mr.  Graves, 
The  Times  correspondent  in  Constantinople ;  and  the  third 
addressed  by  Donohoe  to  Dr.  Sadler,  the  correspondent  of 
the  Daily  Chrojiicle. 


86  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

My  brother's  message  was  as  follows  :  "  We  arrived  at 
Seidler  on  Thursday  morning,  after  spending  all  night  in 
the  train.  Owing  to  a  railway  accident,  a  train  having  gone 
off  the  line,  it  was  necessary  to  wait  until  the  evening.  It 
appears  that  the  Turkish  population  are  in  a  state  of  panic, 
owing  to  King  Ferdinand's  proclamation  declaring  a  war 
of  the  Cross  against  the  Crescent.  The  trains  returning 
from  the  neighbourhood  of  Burgas  are  filled  with  women 
and  children  who  have  lost  everything.  There  are  large 
numbers  of  them,  and  even  the  roofs  of  the  railway  carriages 
are  crowded.  During  the  night  we  were  ordered  to  retire 
on  Chorion.  It  is  rumoured  the  Bulgarians  have  crossed  the 
frontier,  have  defeated  the  Turks,  and  have  taken  Kirk 
Kilisse.  I  am  sending  this  down  by  the  engine  driver,  who 
has  promised  to  deliver  it  to  you." 

I  sent  for  my  interpreter  and  talked  to  the  engine  driver, 
who  had  no  very  clear  idea  as  to  what  had  happened,  except 
that  the  Turks   had   undoubtedly   suffered   defeat. 

These  were  the  first  messages  sent  by  correspondents  from 
the  front  in  the   course   of  the  campaign. 

That  evening  Colonel  Izzet  came  in  to  see  me,  in  order  to 
make  some  final  preparations,  as  I  was  to  leave  for  the 
front  by  motor  car  on  the  following  morning.  1  was 
anxious  to  see  how  he  took  the  news  of  the  disasters  and 
how  he  reconciled  them  with  all  the  reports  he  had  been 
persistently  circulating  of  Turkish  successes  everywhere. 

The  gallant  Colonel,  who  suffered,  up  to  the  time  of  the 
debacle  of  Lule  Burgas,  from  a  persistent  optimism,  which 
nothing  could  check,  addressed  me  in  the  following  strain : — 

"Naturally,  we  are  disappointed  at  the  news  from  the 
front,  and  of  our  retirement  from  Kirk  Kilisse,  but  in  reality, 
what  is  our  position  ?  We  are  now  concentrated  on  the  very 
ground  previously  decided  for  the  concentration  of  the  Army 
of  Thrace,  as  laid  down  by  Field-Marshal  von  der  Goltz  and 


COLONEL   IZZET'S   VIEWS  87 

our  own  strategists.  Even  if  Adrianople  were  to  fall  into 
the  enemy's  hands,  it  would  make  not  the  smallest  difference 
to  our  originally-formed  plan  of  campaign,  which  is  to  con- 
centrate all  our  forces,  and  then  gradually  force  the 
Bulgarians  back  across  the  Balkans.  Had  our  precautions 
on  the  frontier  met  with  success,  it  would  have  been  gratifying, 
but,  contrary  to  our  expectations,  as  it  is,  they  have  had  the 
effect  of  delaying  the  enemy's  advance,  and  of  giving  time  to 
our  troops  to  concentrate. 

"  It  must  be  remembered  under  what  difficulties  the 
Turks  commenced  this  campaign.  In  their  earnest  desire  to 
preserve  peace,  they  delayed  their  concentration  until  the 
very  last  minute  compatible  with  their  national  safety, 
although  they  knew  Bulgaria  was  fully  prepared  for  war. 
The  men,  munitions,  and  provisions  had  to  be  brought  long 
distances  from  widely-scattered  districts  of  the  Empire,  and 
the  Balkan  Coalition,  therefore,  possessed  every  strategical 
advantage  at  the  start  of  the  campaign.  The  delay  in  the 
Bulgarian  offensive  caused  a  sudden  change  from  pessimism 
to  optimism,  which  has  led  to  temporary  discomfiture, 
because  the  sound  plans  of  the  recognised  masters  of 
strategy  were  temporarily  abandoned.  But  the  check  will 
have  a  wholesome  effect,  because  it  will  at  once  cause  the 
spirit  of  contempt  for  our  little  neighbours  to  give  way  to  a 
truer  appreciation  of  their  fighting  capacities." 

Before  I  relate  in  detail  the  strange  adventures  which 
befel  me  on  my  journey  to  the  front  and  during  the  battle 
of  Lule  Burgas,  I  will  give  a  7^esume  of  the  opening  opera- 
tions of  the  campaign  which  led  to  the  capture  of  Kirk 
Kilisse  and  to  the  failure  of  the  Turkish  plan  of  campaign, 
which  was  to  concentrate  the  whole  of  the  Grand  Army  of 
Thrace  along  the  line  Adrianople-Kirk  Kilisse. 

The  battle  must  be  considered  as  a  whole  with  the 
operations  which  commenced  with  the  capture  of  Kirk  Kilisse 


88  WITH   THE   TURKS    IN   THRACE 

on  the  night  of  October  22nd  and  morning  of  October  23rd. 
Kirk  Kihsse  was  held  by  a  portion  of  the  garrison  of 
Adrianople,  in  no  great  force,  although  it  was  the  right  of 
the  base  of  operations  against  Bulgaria,  and  contained  large 
accumulations  of  food,  ammunition,  and  supplies.  The 
garrison  were  totally  inadequate  to  withstand  the  shock  of 
the  Bulgarian  troops,  and  the  mobilisation  of  the  Army 
of  Thrace  was  so  behindhand  that  no  force  was  ready  to  be 
pushed  forward  to  its  support. 

The  original  Turkish  plan  of  campaign  was  to  concentrate 
the  whole  of  the  Army  of  Tlirace,  under  the  command  of 
Abdullah  Pasha,  along  the  lineAdrianople-Kirk  Kilisse,  where 
its  left  flank  would  be  protected  by  the  fortress  of  Adria- 
nople— from  which  it  could  draw  its  supplies — and  at  the 
same  time  the  right  of  the  army  would  rest  on  Kirk  Kihsse, 
and  would  be  covered  by  the  Istrandza  mountains,  behind 
which  it  was  proposed  to  form  an  army  under  Mahmoud 
Mukhtar,  landed  at  Midia,  on  the  Black  Sea,  and  having  that 
port  as  its  base. 

This  was  doubtless  a  sound  plan  of  campaign,  and  the 
natural  one  in  the  circumstances,  always  supposing  that 
the  mobilisation  of  the  Army  of  Thrace  could  be  completed 
either  before  or  at  approximately  the  same  date  as  that  of 
the  Bulgarians.  If  the  mobilisation  were  delayed  even  for  a 
few  days,  it  would  at  once  become  the  most  dangerous  plan 
of  campaign  that  could  possibly  be  chosen,  because  the 
various  corps  arriving  one  after  another  on  the  line 
Adrianople- Kirk  Kilisse  would  render  themselves  liable  to 
be  attacked  and  destroyed  in  detail,  should  the  enemy  take 
the  offensive  in  force. 

This  is  exactly  what  happened,  and  the  failure  of  the 
Turkish  General  Staff  to  gi*asp  the  time-honoured  axiom 
of  war — that  an  army  must  be  concentrated  before  battle — 
is   responsible   for  the   crushing   disaster   which   has    over- 


FAULTY   STRATEGY  89 

whelmed  Turkey.  At  the  outbreak  of  war  the  Turkish 
troops  were  hopelessly  scattered  throughout  Macedonia, 
Albania,  on  the  Greek  frontier,  in  the  Yemen,  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  Tripoli,  and  from  the  very  commencement  it 
became  obvious  that,  as  the  conditions  on  which  the  plan  of 
campaign  were  originally  based  were  no  longer  normal,  it 
would  be  quite  impossible  to  mobilise  the  Army  of 
Thrace  within  the  period  calculated  for  that  purpose  by 
Von  der  Goltz  and  his  German  advisers. 

It  is  extremely  doubtful,  even  if  the  conditions  had  been 
normal,  whether  the  Army  of  Thrace  could  have  been 
mobilised  and  concentrated  in  time  to  meet  the  first  shock 
of  the  Bulgarian  advance.  Everything  essential  to  a  rapid 
mobilisation  was  lacking.  There  was  no  efficient  railway 
organisation  for  transporting  troops ;  no  commissariat  for  the 
Army  Corps  once  they  left  the  line  of  the  railway;  no 
adequate  supplies  of  food  and  ammunition ;  no  hospital 
arrangements  of  any  sort ;  and,  even  if  the  material  had  been 
at  hand,  there  was  no  trained  staff  capable  of  handling  an 
army  of  more  than  100,000  men. 

Therefore,  it  may  well  be  asked.  Why  did  the  Turkish 
General  Staff  proceed  with  a  plan  of  campaign  which, 
according  to  the  generally  accepted  maxims  of  war,  seemed 
to  play  right  into  the  enemy's  hands  and  to  invite  certain 
disaster  ? 

I  think  the  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the  utter  lack  of 
all  knowledge  of  strategy  in  Turkish  military  circles  ;  their 
entire  failure  to  grasp  the  true  significance  of  Bulgaria's 
twenty-five  years  of  steady  preparation  for  war ;  and,  above 
all,  in  the  overwhelming  self-confidence  and  conceit  of  the 
Turkish  character  which  caused  them  to  despise  all  infidels, 
and  more  especially  the  Balkan  States,  until  the  debacle 
of  Lule  Burgas  finally  opened  their  eyes  to  their  own 
inefficiencies.    The  Turks  never  believed  that  the  Bulgarians 


90  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

could,  or  would,  dare  to  take  the  offensive  against  the 
Ottoman  Empire,  and  they  seemed  to  think  that  the  Czar 
Ferdinand's  legions  would  quietly  sit  still  behind  the 
Balkans,  scared  to  death,  until  the  Turkish  concentration 
was  completed,  and  an  offensive  campaign  begun. 

This,  then,  was  their  state  of  mind  when  the  startling 
intelligence  became  known  in  Constantinople,  on  October 
23rd,  that  Kirk  Kilisse  had  been  captured,  its  garrison  routed 
and  put  to  hopeless  flight.  But  even  then  the  true  signifi- 
cance of  the  disaster  does  not  seem  to  have  dawned  on 
them,  and  no  steps  were  taken  to  avoid  a  still  greater  one. 

It  is  obvious  that,  the  moment  the  General  Staff  became 
aware  of  the  Bulgarian  forward  movement  on  a  vast  scale, 
it  was  hopeless  for  them  to  attempt  to  concentrate  so  close 
to  the  hostile  frontier  as  the  line  Adrianople-Kirk  Kilisse, 
and,  therefore,  the  only  sound  course  would  have  been 
to  order  the  immediate  retirement  of  the  advanced  corps 
to  some  strong  central  position,  where  they  could  have 
entrenched  themselves  and  waited,  until  the  rest  of  the 
army  had  come  into  line. 

The  most  natural  position  would  seem  to  be  that  between 
Baba  Eski  and  Lule  Burgas,  where  the  army  could  protect 
the  line  of  the  railway,  and  at  the  same  time  draw  its  food 
and  supplies.  In  view  of  the  utter  disorganisation  which,  it 
has  since  been  proved,  prevailed  everywhere,  the  still  sounder 
course  would  have  been  immediately  to  order  the 
retirement  of  the  whole  army  behind  the  lines  of  Chataldja, 
where  it  finds  itself  at  this  hour.  But  I  suppose  the 
military  authorities  did  not  dare  make  this  confession  of 
failure,  and  preferred  to  run  still  greater  risks  than  admit 
defeat. 

At  any  rate,  the  original  plan  of  a  concentration 
between  Adrianople  and  Kirk  Kilisse  was  proceeded  with, 
and  I  will  now  relate  the  sequence  of  events  which  brought 


THE   FIRST   DEFEAT  91 

about  its  failure  and  which  led  to  the  utter  disruption  of  the 
Army  of  Thrace. 

At  the  time  of  the  defeat  of  the  garrison  of  Kirk  Kilisse 
three  Turkish  Army  Corps,  the  1st,  2nd,  and  3rd,  were 
being  mobilised  and  gradually  pushed  to  the  front.  The 
1st  Army,  under  Yavir  Pasha,  was  the  most  forward,  and 
its  three  divisions,  the  1st,  2nd,  and  3rd,  were  echeloned 
between  Kavakli,  south-west  of  Kirk  Kilisse,  and  Jenidze, 
about  six  kilometres  further  north-west.  On  October  24th 
and  25th  the  three  divisions  of  the  1st  Corps — the  Constan- 
tinople troops,  and  considered  one  of  the  crack  corps — 
were  attacked  and  beaten  in  detail  by  the  Bulgarians  who 
had  been  victorious  at  Kirk  Kilisse.  The  1st  Corps  was 
completely  broken  up,  practically  all  its  artillery  being 
captured,  and  the  remnants  fled  in  confusion  to  Baba  Eski. 

While  this  disaster  was  taking  place  the  3rd  Corps,  under 
Mahmoud  Mukhtar,  was  at  Bunar  Hissar,  where  it  was  also 
attacked  by  a  portion  of  the  Bulgarian  army.  There  was 
some  fighting,  but  the  utter  rout  of  the  1st  Army  Corps, 
which  exposed  his  left  flank,  forced  Mahmoud  Mukhtar  to 
retire  on  Viza,  which  he  reached  safely. 

Even  this  second  crushing  disaster  failed  to  bring  wisdom 
to  the  Turkish  General  Staff",  and,  instead  of  a  general 
concentration  being  ordered  of  all  the  corps  farther  south, 
troops  were  pushed  to  the  front,  and  an  effort  was  made  to 
concentrate  the  army  between  Lule  Burgas  and  Karagac. 

Thus,  when  the  battle  of  Lule  Burgas  opened  on  Monday, 
October  28th,  the  position  was  this  : — The  4th  Corps,  under 
Abouk  Pasha,  but  not  up  to  its  full  strength,  was  in  and 
around  Lule  Burgas.  The  remnants  of  the  1st  Corps,  which 
had  been  routed  on  the  24th  and  25th,  had  been  hastily 
collected  and  brought  into  line,  but  without  guns,  as  practi- 
cally all  had  been  lost ;  the  2nd  Corps,  under  Shefket 
Torgut,  had  come  up  on  the  right,  and  was  between  Turk- 


92  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

Bey  and  Karagac ;  whilst  the  3rd  Corps,  under  Mahmoud 
Mukhtar,  was  still  a  long  way  to  the  rear  at  Viza. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Abdullah's  army  was  in  a  hope- 
less state  of  confusion  and  demoralisation  before  the  battle 
began,  whilst,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Bulgarians  were  flushed 
with  two  great  successes. 

In  addition,  the  Turkish  Commander-in-Chief  was  taken 
completely  by  surprise,  which  is  proved  by  the  fact  that, 
when  I  saw  him  at  dawn  on  Monday,  October  28th,  he 
told  me  he  had  no  immediate  intention  of  proceeding  to 
the  front,  and  yet  later  in  the  day  he  hastily  departed  for 
Sakiskeuy  with  his  staff,  without  even  having  time  to 
forward  his  personal  baggage,  and  was  thus  left  for  two  days 
without  food  or  spare  clothes.  I  have  since  learnt  that 
such  was  the  confusion  amongst  the  corps,  that  many  of  the 
men  never  reached  their  proper  divisions,  but  were  hastily 
snatched  up  by  other  commanders  and  hurried  to  the 
fighting-line. 

As  soon  as  the  men  were  brought  up  by  rail  they  were 
dumped  down,  given  vague  instructions,  and  expected  to 
find  their  proper  commands  ;  and  when  the  battle  opened 
many  regiments  were  wandering  about  hopelessly  lost.  Thus 
some  of  the  4th  Corps  fought  with  the  2nd,  and  some 
of  the  1st  with  the  4th,  which  naturally  added  to  the 
general  demoralisation. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

DEPARTURE  OF  THE  CORRESPONDENTS  FOR  THE  FRONT 

We  left  Constantinople  at  seven  o'clock  on  the  evening  of 
Wednesday,  October  23rd,  for  Kirk  Kilisse,  the  headquarters 
of  the  right  wing  of  the  Turkish  Army  of  Thrace  commanded 
by   Abdullah    Pasha. 

The  train  was  due  to  start  at  4  o'clock,  and  by  2  p.m. 
a  small  army  of  fifty  dragomen  and  servants,  eighty  horses, 
and  as  much  baggage  as  would  have  sufficed  for  a  Turkish 
army  corps,  had  arrived  at  the  station.  It  was  raining 
hard,  and  when  I  went  down  to  see  the  horses  entrained 
I  found  the  utmost  confusion  prevailing.  The  station  yard 
was  blocked  by  a  medley  of  carts  and  horses,  the  latter 
kicking  and  plunging  about  in  the  mud,  refusing  to  be  led 
into  the  open  cattle  trucks  which  were  provided  for  their 
accommodation.  The  voluble  Greek  dragomen  added  to 
the  confusion  by  shouting  and  abusing  each  other  and 
everyone  in  general,  as  is  their  wont,  but  finally,  by  some 
miracle,  horses,  baggage,  and  servants  were  bundled  into 
the  trucks. 

Meanwhile  some  thirty-two  correspondents,  photographers, 
and  cinematograph  operators,  representing  almost  every 
European  nationality,  had  assembled  on  the  station  platform. 
Their  costumes  were  varied,  some  of  them  grotesque.  One 
cadaverous     Frenchman,    who     arrived     mounted    on    an 


94  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

emaciated  cab  horse,  decked  out  with  an  abnormal  quantity 
of  obsolete  saddle-bags,  revolvers,  waterbottles,  filters,  etc., 
was  at  once  christened  Don  Quixote,  and  an  obese  German, 
who  followed  him,  was  nick-named  Sancho  Panza. 

The  correspondent  of  the  Kreuz-Zeitung  wore  the  largest 
sombrero  that  it  has  ever  been  my  lot  to  see,  with  one  side 
looped  up  after  the  manner  of  Roosevelt's  Roughriders,  or 
of  the  C.I.V.  As  it  rains  continually  at  this  season,  I 
imagine  that  he  must  have  intended  to  use  it  as  an  umbrella. 

We  had  to  wait  three  hours  at  the  station,  but  there  was 
so  much  incident  that  the  wait  did  not  seem  dull.  A 
number  of  Turkish  infantry  had  stacked  their  rifles  and 
were  squatting  about  on  the  platforms  waiting  to  entrain. 
Two  of  them  had  pulled  out  rustic  pipes,  and  were  playing 
a  monotonous  wailing  melody,  while  a  dozen  other  rough- 
bearded  soldiers  danced  a  slow  measure  round  and  round  in 
a  circle,  waving  their  arms  in  rhythm  with  the  music. 

Later  on,  a  regiment  marched  into  the  station  with  its  band 
playing,  while  the  crowd  pressed  round  clapping  and  cheering. 
We  were  allotted  carriages  in  the  same  train  as  this  regiment. 
A  number  of  the  correspondents'  friends,  among  whom  were 
several  ladies,  and  a  number  of  Turkish  officers  had  come 
to  bid  us  farewell.  Everyone  was  in  the  best  of  spirits  at 
getting  away  from  Constantinople  at  last,  after  the  weeks  of 
tedious    waiting    and   uncertainty. 

The  Turkish  officers  assured  us  that  they  would  join  us 
in  a  few  days,  and  invited  us  to  dine  with  them  in  Sofia, 
and  other  equally  unlikely  places.  I  don't  think  that  anyone 
had  an  idea  of  how  quickly  disaster  was  destined  to 
overtake  the  Turkish  Army,  or  of  how,  within  a  few  weeks, 
most  of  these  fine  soldiers  who  were  being  despatched  to 
the  front  daily  would  have  either  been  killed  on  the  battle- 
field, or  have  perished  of  disease  by  the  roadside,  uncared 
for  and  unmourned. 


OFF   TO   THE   FRONT  95 

Hundreds  of  people  had  gathered  along  the  railway  line  to 
cheer  and  burn  torches  and  fireworks  as  the  train  steamed 
out  through  the  shadowy  suburbs  of  Stamboul,  while  a 
tuneless  brass  band  was  playing  in  an  open  truck. 

A  few  miles  outside  Constantinople  we  had  a  first  glimpse 
of  the  realities  of  war  when  we  were  halted  in  a  siding,  while 
a  train-load  of  badly- wounded  men  on  its  way  back  from  the 
front  crawled  slowly  by.  By  the  light  of  the  carriage  lamps 
we  could  see  the  men  lying  about  on  the  floors  and  seats  of 
the  carriages  in  varying  attitudes  of  suffering.  One  young 
officer,  his  clothes  soaked  in  blood,  lay  pale  and  rigid  on  the 
floor  of  a  first-class  carriage.  He  had  died  of  his  wounds 
during  the  journey. 

A  little  farther  on  we  passed  a  train-load  of  refugees  flying 
from  Adrianople  and  the  surrounding  villages.  Women  and 
children  were  packed  in  first-class  carriages  or  cattle-trucks, 
with  the  wreck  of  their  homes  scattered  in  confusion  around 
them. 

I  shared  a  second-class  carriage  with  Lionel  James  of 
The  Tivies,  and  Martin  Donohoe  of  the  Chronicle,  both  of 
whom  afterwards  became  my  constant  companions.  Having 
had  some  experience  of  Turkish  methods,  we  had  brought 
provisions  for  four  days  in  the  carriage  with  us,  although  we 
were  due  at  Kirk  Kilisse  on  the  following  day  at  noon.  We 
ate  an  impromptu  supper  of  sardines  and  tongue  and  cocoa, 
which  we  boiled  over  a  portable  spirit  lamp,  and  then,  worn 
out  by  a  fortnight  of  procrastination  and  preparations  in 
Constantinople,  settled  down  to  sleep  as  best  we  could  in 
the  railway  carriage,  which  was  crowded  with  our  camp 
equipment. 

Few  things  are  more  ghastly  than  dawn  in  a  railway 
carriage.  If  you  have  the  window  open  at  night  the  draught 
becomes  intolerable,  and  if  it  is  shut  one  awakes  in  an  atmo- 
sphere sodden  and  foetid.     It  is  bad  enough  in  a  sleeper  on 


96  WITH    THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

the  Orient  Express,  but  here,  in  a  second-class  Turkish 
railway  carriage  en  route  for  the  front,  it  was  infinitely 
worse. 

A  large  measure  of  our  first  enthusiasm  evaporated  when 
we  awoke  in  the  morning  and  found  ourselves  halted  at  the 
little  wayside  station  of  Seidler,  twenty  miles  from  Lule 
Burgas,  and  on  the  main  line  to  Adrianople.  There  were 
no  signs  of  a  village,  only  a  few  station  buildings,  while  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  see  stretched  a  brown  and  barren  plain 
like  the  South  African  veldt.  It  was  raining  hard,  and  in 
the  grey  light  of  dawn  the  landscape  looked  indescribably 
desolate. 

We  were  told  that  we  should  have  to  wait  two  or  three 
hours  to  allow  train-loads  of  wounded  men  to  pass,  so,  stiff 
and  tired,  we  turned  out  to  refresh  ourselves  by  a  wash 
under  the  station  pump. 

Towards  noon  we  sighted  a  long  line  of  wagons  and 
people  on  foot  winding  across  the  hills  from  the  direction  of 
liule  Burgas.  At  first  we  thought  that  it  was  an  army  in 
retreat,  but  after  a  time  we  could  make  out  that  they  were 
women  and  children,  tramping  across  country  with  all  their 
worldly  goods  packed  in  bullock- wagons.  They  went  bare- 
footed for  the  most  part,  and  in  places  had  to  wade  up  to 
their  knees  through  mud  and  water. 

One  pretty  little  dark-eyed  girl  was  riding  astride  on  an 
ox,  and  other  little  children  were  urging  on  the  patient 
bullocks  with  their  goads.  An  old  man  who  was  limping 
down  the  road,  moaning  as  he  went,  told  me  that  the 
Bulgarians  had  captured  Kirk  Kilisse,  and  that  the  villages 
were  in  flames.  Then  he  shook  his  fist  towards  the  north 
and  swore  a  vengeance  that  he  could  never  hope  to  take. 

We  were  told  that  we  should  be  taken  back  to  Chorion 
at  once,  but  a  train  became  derailed  behind  us  and  we  were 
compelled  to  wait  until  the  line  could  be  repaired. 


i^<i 


THE   FIRST  REFUGEES  97 

All  day  long  an  endless  line  of  refugees  wound  across  the 
plain,  and  towards  evening  a  train  arrived  from  Burgas  with 
women  and  children  clinging  to  the  front  of  the  engine  and 
the  tops  of  the  railway  carriages. 

King  Ferdinand's  proclamation  of  a  crusade  of  the  Cross 
against  the  Crescent  had  spread  a  panic  among  the  Turkish 
population.  As  it  grew  dark  the  panic  increased,  and 
women  and  children  came  staggering  across  the  fields 
panting  and  dishevelled.  Among  them  was  a  number  of 
Turkish  soldiers  who  had  become  involved  in  the  flight.  The 
soldiers  were  starving,  and  when  some  of  the  officers  in  our 
train  remonstrated  with  them,  saying  that  if  they  did  not 
return  to  the  front  they  would  be  shot,  they  replied,  "  We 
would  rather  be  shot  than  return  there  to  be  starved  to 
death." 

As  night  set  in  the  confusion  increased.  On  all  hands 
one  heard  the  lowing  of  oxen,  the  cries  of  children,  and 
a  babble  of  angry  voices  raised  in  dispute.  The  officers 
accompanying  us  asked  us  to  remain  in  our  carriage,  as  the 
sight  of  Christians  would  hardly  be  welcome  to  those  poor 
people,  who  had  lost  everything,  and  who,  in  their  ignorance, 
knew  only  distinction  of  creed  and  not  of  race. 

The  Turkish  army  had  suffered  its  first  reverse  and  the 
fortified  town  of  Kirk  Kilisse,  headquarters  of  the  right  wing 
of  the  army,  had  been  captured  by  the  Bulgarians  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet  at  midnight  on  Wednesday. 

I  gathered  all  the  details  that  I  could,  and  wrote  out  a 
hasty  despatch  describing  the  capture  of  Kirk  Kihsse,  and 
our  own  adventures.     This  despatch  I  addressed, 

"Pera  Palace, 

Room  60," 

which  was  the  number  of  my  brother's  room,  and  gave  the 
Greek  engine  driver  of  one  of  the  down  trains  a  sovereign  to 
deliver  it  to  the  porter  at  the  Pera  Palace  Hotel.     I  did 

H 


98  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

not  care  to  put  my  brother's  name  on  the  letter,  as  I  thought 
we  might  get  into  trouble  from  the  authorities,  if  the  Greek 
engine  driver  betrayed  us.  The  letter  was,  I  afterwards 
heard,  delivered  to  my  brother  on  the  following  day,  and 
enabled  him  to  send  the  first  authoritative  account  of  the 
capture  of  Kirk  Kihsse. 

By  10.30  on  Thursday  night  the  line  in  our  rear  had  been 
cleared  and  we  were  able  to  return  to  Chorion,  some  20 
miles  in  the  rear,  arriving  at  dawn  on  Friday.  Even  there 
the  station  and  all  its  approaches  were  crowded  with  refugees. 
We  gave  bread  to  some  of  them  and  they  went  down  on 
their  knees  to  thank  us. 

At  about  7  o'clock  we  detrained,  and  the  general  scramble 
for  the  few  bullock- wagons  available  to  carry  our  stores  and 
equipment  to  the  camping  ground  afforded  an  interesting 
example  of  the  enterprising  nature  of  war  correspondents. 
There  were  further  interesting,  but  rather  expensive  examples 
when  it  came  to  sorting  out  the  baggage. 

Then  the  horses  were  detrained  and  freely  manifested  the 
resentment  that  they  felt  at  two  days'  imprisonment  in  cattle 
trucks. 

The  stout  German  correspondent,  whom  we  had  nicknamed 
Sancho  Panza,  was  soon  afterwards  seen  disappearing  in  the 
distance  in  pursuit  of  his  two  saddle  horses,  which  were 
making  for  Adrianople  at  full  gallop. 

When  we  reached  the  camping  ground  there  was  another 
undignified  scramble  for  the  best  spots  in  which  to  pitch  the 
tents,  in  which  the  halfpenny  papers  rather  worsted  their 
more  dignified  penny  colleagues. 

We  were  camped  in  a  pleasant  vaUey  v^dth  high  tablelands 
all  round  us.  That  evening  I  sat  in  my  tent  in  the  hour  of 
shadows.  It  was  a  beautiful  evening,  peaceful  as  the 
summer-time  in  England.  In  front  were  the  horse  lines, 
and  beyond  them  lay  the  white  road,  along  which  wound  an 


DISORGANISATION  99 

endless  train  of  refugees  flying  blindly  toward  Stamboul — 
that  mirage  city  of  prosperity — from  before  the  crusaders  of 
the  twentieth  century.  As  evening  fell  a  crimson  glow  spread 
over  the  hill  and  the  road  became  veiled  in  purple  shadows, 
until  the  long  line  of  refugees  looked  like  an  army  of 
phantoms.  From  over  the  hills  came  their  flocks  of  sheep 
and  goats,  and  the  night  was  restless  with  the  music  of 
cattle-bells  and  the  groaning  of  the  heavy  ox-wagons. 

At  Chorion,  which  was  the  advance  base  for  the  left  and 
centre  of  the  Turkish  Army,  which  was  concentrated  on  the 
line  Lule  Burgas-Baba  Eski-Viza,  some  40  miles  to  the 
north-east,  we  had  ample  evidence  of  the  activity  of  the 
Turkish  preparations.  Regiments  were  arriving  at  all  hours, 
either  by  railway  from  Constantinople  or  by  road  from 
Rodosto  on  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  some  20  miles  distant. 
From  Chorion  they  were  hurriedly  dispatched  by  rail  and 
road  to  the  front. 

There  was  a  complete  lack  of  organisation.  Regiments 
would  arrive  in  the  camp  worn  out  and  hungry  after  a  long 
day's  march,  and  instead  of  finding  food  and  the  shelter  of  a 
tent,  would  be  left  to  spend  the  night  without  shelter  in 
pelting  rain  and  a  bitter  north-east  wind.  The  nights  were 
intensely  cold,  there  being  on  several  occasions  12-14 
degrees  of  frost.  There  seemed  to  be  an  almost  complete 
lack  of  food,  or  of  any  form  of  organised  commissariat,  and 
so  the  half-starved  men  were  dying  like  flies  of  dysentery, 
pneumonia,  and  other  diseases. 

There  was  also  a  great  shortage  of  officers,  many 
regiments  having  only  one  to  a  double  company. 

In  the  course  of  a  day's  march  about  half  the  men  in 
the  regiment  would  fall  out  from  sore  feet,  exhaustion,  or 
disease.  The  utmost  demoralisation  and  apathy  prevailed 
among  the  men,  and  we  had  little  doubt,  after  a  few  days 
spent  at  Chorion,  which  would  be  the  victorious  army. 

H  2 


100  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

Our  own  position  was  not  of  the  happiest.  We  were 
camped  forty  miles  from  the  scene  of  the  mihtary  operations, 
with  armed  sentries  on  guard  night  and  day  with  orders  to 
prevent  us  escaping,  while  our  only  news  consisted  of  daily 
reports  of  Turkish  victories,  which  were  announced  to  us  by 
the  fatuous  censor.  We  had  been  told  before  leaving  Con- 
stantinople that  all  our  despatches  would  have  to  be  handed 
in  in  French,  but  when  we  got  to  Chorion  we  found  that 
there  were  no  facilities  of  any  kind  for  sending  telegrams. 
We  made  a  collective  protest,  and  after  twenty-four  hours' 
delay  were  informed  that  we  might  send  telegrams  which 
were  handed  in  in  Turkish,  of  which  language  we  were 
completely  ignorant. 

This  rather  limited  the  sphere  of  our  usefulness,  and  we 
began  to  wonder  what  the  editors  would  say  when  they  saw 
the  long  tale  of  our  fruitless  expenditure.  We  were  destined 
to  spend  three  days  in  the  camp  at  Chorion,  and  during  that 
time  I  had  the  opportunity  of  getting  to  know  my  fellow 
correspondents,  and,  with  a  few  exceptions,  I  never  hope  to 
meet  a  nicer  lot  of  fellows. 

In  one  way  only  did  they  disappoint  me.  I  had  expected 
to  meet  a  hardy  band  of  buccaneers,  trained  in  the  ways 
of  camp  life,  and  inured  to  the  hardships  of  war.  Some  of 
them,  it  is  true,  were  experienced  campaigners,  but  a  great 
many  had  never  been  out  of  Fleet  Street  oi;*  seen  a  shot 
fired  in  anger  in  their  lives.  Several  of  them,  even,  had 
never  been  on  a  horse's  back. 

One  correspondent  in  particular  had  reached  an  age  which 
cannot  have  been  far  short  of  40,  without  ever  having 
exposed  himself  to  the  fearful  hazard  of  the  saddle.  He 
had  purchased  the  quietest  steed  that  he  could  find  in  Con- 
stantinople, but  when,  on  his  trial  run  in  the  camp  at  Chorion, 
the  animal  broke  out  into  a  spirited  hackney  trot,  the  corre- 
spondent felt  his  tenure  of  office  so  uncertain,  that  he  hastily 


DONOHOE   PASHA  101 

dismounted  in  a  none  too  dignified  manner.  After  this  he 
confided  his  horse  to  the  care  of  a  more  experienced  com- 
panion, with  a  request  to  so  break  it  in  that  it  should  never 
go  out  of  a  walk.  It  was  a  jaded  and  dispirited  animal, 
about  the  number  of  whose  ribs  there  could  be  no  possible 
doubt,  and  everyone  who  rode  it  had  difficulty  in  getting 
it  to  go  at  anything  faster  than  a  walk,  but,  with  the  strange 
perversity  of  its  kind,  it  indulged  in  the  wildest  affectation  of 
activity  directly  the  unfortunate  one  from  Fleet  Street  got 
on  to  its  back. 

Finally  he  abandoned  his  horse  and  went  everywhere  on 
foot.  How  he  managed  it  will  ever  be  a  puzzle  to  me,  but 
he  was  always  present  where  there  was  anything  to  be  seen, 
and  his  energy  appeared  inexhaustible.  I  have  ever  since 
had  a  profound  admiration  for  him,  because  he  behaved  in  a 
most  gallant  manner,  although  I  believe  that  from  the  first 
he  found  his  unusual  situation  in  the  midst  of  a  routed  army 
both  embarrassing  and  alarming. 

Lionel  James  of  The  Times,  and  Martin  Donohoe  of  the 
Chronicle,  were  my  two  best  friends,  and  we  had  all  three 
pitched  our  tents  together  in  one  corner  of  the  camp. 
James,  a  charming  companion,  used  to  amuse  himself 
by  telling  me  horrible  tales  of  the  atrocities  which  the 
Turkish  soldiers  were  likely  to  practise  on  me,  in  the 
event  of  their  being  defeated  and  getting  out  of  hand. 
He  entertained  us  very  much  by  sitting  in  front  of  the 
tent  and  chanting  erotic  Hindoo  songs  in  nasal  monotonous 
tones,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  Turkish  sentries.  He  was 
an  experienced  campaigner,  having  himself  served  in  the 
army,  while  at  present  he  commands  a  regiment  of 
Yeomanry.  In  addition,  he  is  a  very  able  war  correspondent, 
and  in  that  capacity  has  taken  part  in  numerous  campaigns, 
including  the  South  African  and  the  Russo-Japanese  wars. 

Martin  Donohoe,  an  Irish- Australian,  is  a  journalist  of 


102         WITtt   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

great  experience,  and  is  a  most  entertaining  companion, 
having  amusing  stories  to  tell  about  every  part  of  the  world. 
In  appearance  he  reminded  me  of  the  stout  robber  baron 
in  Reinhardt's  "  Miracle  "  at  Olympia.  I  am  sure  that  in  a 
more  primitive  state  of  existence  he  would  have  spent  his 
time  ravaging  other  people's  lands  and  driving  off  their 
cattle,  or  in  burning  their  castles  and  carrjring  off  their  wives 
across  his  saddle  bow.  Living  in  the  twentieth  century,  he  has 
turned  his  hand  to  the  only  legalised  form  of  brigandage — 
the  profession  of  a  war  correspondent.  He  is  a  large,  rather 
stout  man,  with  a  round,  reddish  face  and  a  bristling  mous- 
tache. When  one  day  he  appeared  wearing  a  black  fur  cap 
and  a  grey  overcoat  of  military  pattern,  he  looked  so  like  a 
Bulgarian,  that  we  were  all  afraid  for  his  life. 

He  used  to  ride  the  most  extraordinary  horse  that  it  has 
ever  been  my  lot  to  see ;  such  a  horse  as  one  sees  portrayed 
in  story  books  for  children  or  in  effigy  in  a  toy-shop.  It  was 
a  strongly-built  animal,  abnormally  long  in  the  barrel,  with 
the  sturdy  foreshortened  legs  of  a  carthorse,  which,  however, 
tapered  down  to  the  hocks  and  hoofs  of  a  thoroughbred 
racer.  These  legs,  with  an  excess  of  affectation,  it  used  to 
lift  high  in  the  air  in  an  effort  to  imitate  the  exaggerated 
gait  of  a  prize  hackney.  In  addition,  it  had  the  head  of  a 
'bus-horse,  and  the  delicate,  sensitive  nostrils  of  an  Arab. 
Donohoe  used  to  ride  a  Turkish  military  saddle  with  a  brass- 
capped  back  piece,  underneath  which  was  a  sky-blue  numnah 
cloth,  with  a  red  border,  so  that,  later  on,  when  he  discarded 
his  Bulgarian  costume  and  adopted  a  fez  and  grew  a  beard, 
he  looked  for  all  the  world  like  a  Turkish  Pasha,  and  inspired 
superlative  respect  among  all  the  soldiers  whom  he 
encountered. 

Among  the  other  correspondents,  I  have  particularly 
pleasant  memories  of  Mr.  Alan  Ostler,  the  very  able  and 
energetic  representative  of  the  Daily  Express,  who  had  been 


VASFI'S   LAMENTS  108 

with  the  Turco- Arab  forces  in  the  deserts  of  Tripoh  for  more 
than  a  year.  He  had  finally  fallen  a  victim  to  typhoid  fever, 
and  had  experienced  all  the  horrors  of  a  Turkish  field  hospital. 
He  had  been  left  alone  in  a  tent  with  various  other  more  or 
less  moribund  unfortunates,  and  was  on  the  point  of  death 
when  rescued  by  an  English  doctor.  None  the  less,  after 
six  months  of  convalescence,  he  had  volunteered  for  service 
in  the  present  war. 

On  the  whole  the  foreign  correspondents  were  a  very  nice 
lot  of  fellows,  although  the  Frenchmen  were  rather  inclined 
to  behave  in  a  childish  manner.  They  treated  the  censor, 
Major  Vasfi,  as  though  he  had  been  their  nurse,  and  were 
constantly  gathering  in  a  gesticulating  mob  round  his  tent 
to  make  what  they  described  as  a  ^'demarche  collective'' 
This  generally  meant  that  they  had  come  to  abuse  him 
because  one  of  them  had  lost  his  horse,  or  some  of  his 
baggage,  or  because  another  was  cold  and  had  not  enough  to 
eat.  They  tormented  poor  Major  Vasfi  almost  to  death, 
and  on  several  occasions  he  came  to  my  tent  for  a  little 
peace,  exclaiming,  as  he  sank  with  a  sigh  of  rehef  upon  the 
camp  bed,  "  But,  Monsieur  Ashmead-Bartlett,  what  would 
you  ?  Am  I  their  nurse  ?  Can  I  look  after  their  luggage, 
their  horses,  and  their  cold  feet  ? " 

Of  the  German  correspondents.  Baron  von  Kriegelstein 
and  Major  von  Zweiter,  I  have  nothing  but  pleasant 
memories.  They  were  both  brave  and  able  gentlemen,  but 
— in  common  with  all  the  other  foreign  correspondents — they 
were  hampered  in  the  execution  of  their  work  by  a  lack  of 
funds. 

The  two  Russian  correspondents  were  persona  ingratissima 
with  the  Turks,  who  suspected  Russia  of  having  instigated 
the  crusade  of  the  Balkan  States.  To  make  matters  worse, 
one  of  the  correspondents  was  an  officer  of  the  Headquarters 
Staff  in  St.  Petersburg,  and  the  Turks  insisted,  not  without 


104         WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

reason,  that  he  had  been  sent  by  his  Government  to  act  as 
a  spy.  FeeHng  was  very  bitter  against  him,  and  he  had  been 
told  by  Izzet  Bey  before  leaving  Constantinople  that  he 
accompanied  the  army  at  his  own  risk,  and  I  myself  more 
than  once  heard  Turkish  officers  express  the  wish  that  he 
might  be  found  shot  by  the  roadside.  The  limit  was  reached 
when  he  handed  in  his  despatches  to  the  Censor,  addressed 
to  the  Russian  Embassy  in  Constantinople.  Then  for  the 
first  time  did  Major  Vasfi's  habitual  calm  desert  him,  and 
he  pointed  out  some  unpleasant  truths  to  Captain  W . 

Personally,  I  liked  the  Russian,  for  he  was  a  man  of  great 
experience  and  culture,  and  we  went  for  several  long  forbidden 
rides  together.  Officially,  the  only  exercise  we  were  allowed 
was  a  tour,  which  took  place  daily  after  lunch,  when 
we  were  expected  to  ride  two  and  two  behind  a 
Turkish  officer,  like  schoolgirls  out  with  their  mistress 
on  the  parade  of  some  South  Coast  watering-place. 
Personally,  1  refused  to  take  part  in  these  rides  after  the 
first  occasion,  when  the  whole  cavalcade  of  riders,  good,  bad 
— for  the  most  part — and  indifferent,  clad  in  the  most 
heterogeneous  and  ridiculous  costumes  I  have  ever  seen, 
trotted  back  into  camp  led  by  a  tiny  stray  donkey  which  had 
joined  them  during  the  ride.  That  donkey  seemed  so  aptly 
to  symbolise  us  and  our  fruitless  mission  at  Chorion. 

The  first  day  and  night  in  the  camp  at'  Chorion  were 
pleasant  enough,  as  the  weather  was  warm  and  sunny,  but 
on  Saturday  evening  a  bitter  wind  sprang  up  in  the  north- 
east and  it  became  very  cold.  I  found  it  impossible  to 
keep  warm  even  in  a  tent,  and  a  few  such  nights  as  we  ex- 
perienced on  Saturday  would  have  proved  fatal  to  the 
horses,  unaccustomed  as  they  were  to  the  hardships  of  a 
campaign.  Luckily,  by  a  supreme  and  united  effort,  we 
succeeded  in  rousing  the  Censor  from  his  habitual  sluggish- 
ness and  prevailed  upon  him  to  find  stabling  for  the  horses 


MY  VILLA  AT   CHORLOU  105 

in  Chorlou,  while  we  ourselves  moved  into  houses  in  the 
village. 

Major  Vasfi,  the  Censor,  was  always  very  kind  to  me, 
I  think  chiefly  because  I  was  always  polite  to  him,  and 
for  the  sake  of  my  father,  who  had  been  a  life-long  friend 
of  Turkey.  So,  when  on  the  morning  of  Monday, 
October  28th,  we  moved  from  our  camp  into  the  village 
of  Chorlou,  he  went  on  ahead  and  obtained  one  of  the 
best  houses  in  the  place  for  me. 

It  was  a  large  wooden  house  with  projecting  bay  windows 
on  the  upper  floors,  rather  like  the  houses  that  were  built  in 
London  in  the  seventeenth  century.  It  belonged  to  a  family 
of  Greeks,  and  was  kept  remarkably  clean.  Two  large  wooden 
coach  doors  gave  access  to  an  atrium  with  a  floor  of  earth 
and  paving  stones,  which  occupied  the  whole  of  the  ground 
floor,  and  in  which  the  family  lived  and  performed  all 
their  household  duties.  The  family  consisted  of  an  old 
bearded  man,  two  old  ladies,  his  daughters,  and  a  young 
man,  his  grandson,  and  they  seemed  to  spend  most  of  their 
time  squatting  on  the  earthen  floor  in  one  corner  of  the  hall, 
around  a  brazier  of  coals,  smoking  and  drinking  coffee. 

Upstairs  the  rooms  opened  on  to  a  hall,  in  the  centre  of 
which  was  a  plain  deal  table  on  which  we  used  to  have  our 
meals.  In  one  corner  a  lamp  was  suspended  above  a  photo- 
gravure of  the  Virgin  Mary.  It  should,  strictly  speaking, 
have  been  kept  burning  continually,  but  the  old  ladies,  being 
of  an  economical  turn  of  mind,  used  only  to  light  it  at 
sunset,  and  put  it  out  again  when  they  went  to  bed.  The 
rooms  were  large  and  airy,  and  the  deal  floors  were  scrubbed 
as  white  as  snow,  but  they  were  bare  of  all  furniture,  save 
for  divans  arranged  around  the  walls,  upon  which  we 
used  to  sleep. 

All  this  time  I  had  been  anxiously  awaiting  the  arrival 
of  my  brother,  of  whom  I  had  had  no  news  since  I  left 


106  WITH   THE  TURKS   IN   THRACE 

him  lying  ill  in  the  Pera  Palace  Hotel.  On  Monday 
afternoon,  just  as  I  had  got  installed  in  my  house,  Sir  Bryan 
Leighton  arrived  from  Constantinople  in  my  brother's  motor- 
car. He  said  that  they  had  taken  three  days  to  cover  the 
intervening  150  miles,  owing  to  the  absence  of  proper 
roads,  and  that  the  previous  evening  they  had  broken  down 
15  miles  outside  the  town,  and  my  brother  and  Ismet  Bey, 
a  young  Turkish  officer,  had  left  the  motor  in  order  to  walk 
on  to  Chorion  in  search  of  assistance. 

I  began  to  wonder  what  had  happened  to  them,  as 
24  hours  had  by  now  elapsed  since  they  had  left  the  motor-car. 
At  first  I  thought  that  they  must  have  taken  the  wrong  road 
and  gone  some  miles  out  of  their  way  before  discovering 
their  mistake.  But  when  on  the  following  morning  there 
was  still  no  news,  I  began  to  think  that  my  brother  might 
have  fallen  ill  again,  or  met  with  an  accident  by  the  roadside. 
At  10  a.m.  on  Tuesday,  therefore,  I  visited  the  Censor  and 
informed  him  officially  that  my  brother  and  Ismet-bey  were 
missing.  Major  Vasfi  was  very  kind,  promising  to  make 
all  inquiries  and  to  send  a  patrol  out  to  search  the  roads. 

Soon  afterwards  we  heard  the  distant  sound  of  guns  to  the 
north,  and  during  the  day  the  cannonade  increased  in 
violence,  until,  toward  evening,  it  had  deepened  to  a  con- 
tinual murmur  of  far-away  thunder.  The  great  battle  that 
was  to  decide  the  fate  of  the  Turkish  Empire  had  started, 
but  the  Censor  hardened  his  heart  and  refused  to  allow  us  to 
leave  Chorion.  My  situation  was  horrible ;  here  I  was,  a 
prisoner  in  Chorion,  while  40  miles  away  the  greatest  battle 
of  modern  times  was  being  fought  out  on  the  heights  around 
Lule  Burgas. 

I  felt  bound  to  wait  for  my  brother  until  the  evening,  as  I 
had  all  the  stores  and  equipment.  Finally,  at  five  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  I  could  bear  it  no  longer,  and  as  I  was  still 
without  news  of  him,  I  decided  that  he  must  be  either  dead 


Our  Tent  at  Chorlou. 


iFlwto  S.  Ashmead-BartUtt 


S5  < 


tiot- 


PARTING   WITH   THE   CENSOR  107 

or  else  had  got  on  to  the  front  by  some  miracle. 
Accordingly,  I  purchased  a  cart  for  £14,  loaded  it  up  with 
a  tent  and  sufficient  food  for  four  days,  and  the  next 
morning,  accompanied  by  Sir  Bryan  Leighton,  I  escaped 
from  Chorion  and  the  Censor  before  dawn,  and  rode  toward 
the  sound  of  the  guns. 


CHAPTER    IX 

MY     JOURNEY    TO    CHORLOU 

On  Saturday,  October  26th,  I  left  Constantinople.  On 
Saturday,  November  2nd,  just  one  week  later,  I  was  back 
again  in  the  city.  During  this  brief  period  I  was  destined  to 
make  my  way  to  Lule  Burgas  to  take  part  in  the  great 
decisive  battle  of  the  campaign,  to  retreat  with  the  routed 
army  of  Thrace  as  far  as  Chorion,  and  then  to  make  my 
way  back  to  Constantinople  via  Rodosto.  I  passed  through 
the  most  exciting,  fatiguing  and  instructive  week  of  my  life ; 
such  a  one  as  I  never  wish  to  endure  again.  Looking  back 
now,  it  all  seems  like  some  wild  dream,  so  unnatural  were 
the  scenes  which  I  witnessed  and  so  strange  the  adventures 
which  beset  my  path  from  the  moment  I  left  Constantinople. 

Colonel  Izzet  arranged  for  a  charming  young  Turk,  Ismet 
Bey,  who  is  employed  in  the  service  of  the  Ottoman  Public 
Debt,  but  who  volunteered  to  serve  with  the  army  when  the 
war  broke  out,  to  accompany  me  to  the  front  to  act  as  my 
interpreter.  Ismet  turned  out  to  be  a  great  deal  more  to 
me  than  a  mere  interpreter.  He  became  my  guide,  philoso- 
pher and  friend,  and  but  for  his  assistance  I  do  not  know 
what  would  have  become  of  me,  when  for  days  I  was 
wandering  about  the  battlefield  hopelessly  lost  and  almost 
starving. 

Ismet    is    not    a    pure-blooded    Turk,    for    his    mother 


ISMET  BEY  109 

is  French ;  he  was  educated  in  France,  and  is  the  possessor 
of  a  charming  French  wife.  He  speaks  Enghsh  and  French 
with  the  utmost  faciUty,  has  innumerable  friends  in  the 
Turkish  army — as  the  sequel  will  show — is  a  sportsman  to 
the  backbone,  and  prepared  to  rough  it  to  any  extent. 
Thus  a  more  valuable  companion  for  such  a  week  of 
excitement  and  exertion  could  not  have  been  found 
anywhere  in  the  Turkish  Empire. 

The  night  before  I  left  Constantinople  I  had  no  sleep,  as  I 
had  to  make  my  final  preparations,  and  then  to  sit  up  writing 
a  long  despatch  to  the  Daily  Telegraph  on  the  news 
which  had  come  in  that  day  of  the  defeat  of  the 
Turkish  army  and  the  capture  of  Kirk  Kilisse,  while  on  the 
following  morning — Saturday — I  was  up  at  4  a.m.  I  was 
to  be  accompanied  as  far  as  Chorion  by  Sir  Bryan 
Leighton  and  a  young  English  cinematograph  operator  called 
Gordon,  neither  of  whom  had  reached  Constantinople  in 
time  to  go  to  the  front  with  the  other  correspondents  on 
October  23rd.  I  offered  to  take  Sir  Bryan  Leighton  in  my 
motor-car.  Gordon  had  a  seat  in  the  car  which  had  been 
bought  by  Lionel  James  and  Ward  Price  for  the  use  of  The 
Times  and  the  Daily  Mail  It  had  been  arranged  for  this 
car  to  accompany  me  in  order  that  I  might  see  it  safely  to 
the  front. 

My  car  was  driven  by  a  young  French  chauffeur  who, 
despite  his  good  recommendations,  turned  out  to  be  about 
the  worst  of  all  the  mongrel  chauffeurs  who  feed  on  the 
unwary  in  Constantinople.  There  were  the  usual  delays 
at  the  start.  The  hotel  servants  brought  breakfast  late ; 
it  was  found  almost  impossible  to  carry  all  our  effects  in  the 
two  cars,  and  many  articles  had  to  be  rejected  at  the  last 
moment.  Then  the  cars  were  late  in  turning  up,  and  it 
was  near  eight  o'clock  before  Ismet,  Sir  Bryan  Leighton, 
and  myself  were  seated  in  our  brand  new  Panhard. 


110  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

We  started  amidst  the  encouraging  cheers  of  the 
entire  staff  of  the  Pera  Palace  Hotel,  who  had  turned 
out  en  masse  to  receive  their  tips.  The  packing  of  two 
motor  cars  had  also  caused  a  dense  crowd  to  gather  in 
front  of  the  hotel,  and,  when  they  realised  we  were  off  to 
join  the  army,  they  too  joined  in  the  chorus  of  farewell  until 
the  streets  of  Pera  fairly  resounded  with  their  shouts.  It 
was  a  beautiful  morning,  fine  and  clear,  but  somewhat  cold. 
It  had  rained  hard  on  the  previous  day,  but  the  sky  had 
now  cleared,  and  there  was  every  prospect  of  our 
having  good  weather  for  the  journey. 

It  was  our  avowed  intention  to  reach  Chorlou,  where 
Colonel  Izzet  had  told  me  we  would  find  all  the  correspon- 
dents assembled,  that  same  afternoon.  He  assured  me  we 
would  not  have  the  slightest  difficulty  in  doing  so,  as 
the  roads  were  excellent.  However,  there  were  others 
who  did  not  share  his  optimism.  The  agents  from  whom 
I  had  bought  the  car  warned  me  that  the  roads  were 
practically  non-existent,  and  that,  although  in  dry  weather 
it  would  be  practicable  to  pass  over  them,  the  task  became 
almost  impossible  after  heavy  rain  such  as  we  had  had  on 
the  previous  day. 

The  day  before  starting  I  went  to  the  French  company 
who  hold  the  contract  for  the  making  of  roads  through- 
out the  Ottoman  Empire.  The  director  was  even  more 
pessimistic.  He  showed  me  on  a  map  the  best  route  to 
take,  but  also  warned  me  that  I  would  come  to  places, 
over  which  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to  pass.  My 
chauffeur,  who  had  once,  so  he  said,  driven  a  car  as  far  as 
Adrianople,  would  not  commit  himself  to  any  definite  state- 
ment, simply  saying,  '*  I  will  try  my  best,  and  I  think  I  can 
get  this  car  through  anywhere."  I  stupidly  allowed  myself 
to  be  deceived  by  the  wild  statements  of  Colonel  Izzet,  and 
was  also  influenced  by  the  fact  that  I  heard  that  the  military 


THE   START  111 

authorities  had  commandeered  a  number  of  cars  and  taken 
them  up  to  Chorion  for  the  use  of  the  General  Staff  of  the 
Army. 

Just  as  I  was  leaving,  an  Englishman  called  Bryant, 
in  the  employ  of  the  French  Road  Company,  came  to  see 
me  at  the  hotel.  He  had  actually  been  charged  with  the 
task  of  making  the  road,  and  said  that  with  fine  weather  I 
might  get  through.  His  job  had  now  come  to  an  end,  as  it 
was  impossible  to  find  labour  for  road-making  during  the 
war,  and  he  asked  me  if  I  would  employ  him  as  a  despatch 
rider,  as  he  thought  his  knowledge  of  Turkish  and  his 
acquaintance  with  the  people  and  with  the  country  would 
prove  invaluable.  I  therefore  arranged  for  him  to  make  his 
own  way  up  to  Chorion  and  to  join  me  at  the  earliest 
possible  date. 

The  two  motors  rolled  over  the  Galata  Bridge,  through 
the  crowded  streets  of  Stamboul  and  out  by  the  Adrianople 
Gate  to  the  open  country  beyond.  For  the  first  ten  kilo- 
metres the  road  is  fair  and  we  made  rapid  progress.  It 
was  obvious  from  the  start  that  a  friendly  rivalry  existed 
between  the  two  chauffeurs,  the  driver  of  The  Times- 
Daily  Mail  car  being  a  powerful  Turk  and  an  excellent 
driver,  but  lacking  the  mechanical  knowledge  possessed  by 
my  driver. 

We  were  all  in  high  spirits  and  had  begun  to  congrat- 
ulate ourselves  on  the  rapid  progress  we  were  making, 
when  the  first  of  many  subsequent  disasters  overtook  us, 
effectually  subdued  our  premature  pride,  and  warned  us  of 
still  worse  evils  to  come. 

Descending  a  hill  close  to  San  Stefano,  the  road  suddenly 
ended  in  a  sea  of  mud.  It  would  have  been  wiser  to  leave 
it  and  to  try  to  pass  over  the  meadow-land  on  either  side, 
but  the  chauffeur,  without  waiting  for  instructions,  drove 
bUndly  into  the  morass.     The  gaUant  car  did  her  utmost  to 


112  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

get  through.  The  momentum  of  the  descent  carried  her 
to  the  centre,  then  she  slowed  down,  the  wheels  began  to 
churn  the  mud  with  a  furious  roar,  while  we  made  no 
further  progress  and  gradually  sank  up  to  our  axles  in  this 
liquid  slime.  We  jumped  out  and  pushed  and  tugged,  but 
in  vain.  It  was  obvious  that  only  one  course  remained 
open,  namely,  to  lighten  the  car  by  unloading  all  our 
baggage  and  the  eight  cans  of  petrol  which  we  were 
carrying.  Standing  knee-deep  in  the  mud  we  proceeded 
with  this  thankless  task,  and,  when  everything  had  been 
removed,  we  again  turned  on  the  engine  and  pushed  behind. 
Again  the  wheels  went  whirling  round,  again  the  mud 
was  thrown  up  in  all  directions,  but  it  was  impossible  to 
obtain   any  grip,  and  the  car  refused  to  budge. 

Meanwhile  the  other  chauffeur  had  succeeded  in  passing 
the  morass  by  taking  his  car  off  the  road.  He  now 
suggested  that  we  should  send  to  the  nearest  farm  and 
secure  two  strong  oxen  to  drag  the  motor  out.  We 
were  saved  this  necessity  by  the  passing  of  a  wagon 
with  two  powerful  beasts.  The  owner  was  not  very 
willing  to  let  us  have  them,  but  Ismet  cut  him  short 
by  commandeering  them  in  the  name  of  the  Sultan,  the 
Army,  and  the  Koran.  Fortunately  we  had  taken  the 
precaution  to  supply  ourselves  with  a  strong  piece  of  rope 
before  leaving  Constantinople.  This  was  tied  round  the 
front  axle  and  harnessed  to  the  two  oxen.  The  gallant 
beasts  put  their  shoulders  to  the  yoke,  at  the  same  time 
the  engine  was  started,  and  the  great  tug  began.  But 
although  the  oxen  fell  in  the  mud  from  their  exertions, 
and  although  all  of  us  pushed  from  behind,  the  car  would 
not  budge  an  inch. 

We  were  almost  in  despair,  and  sat  down  by  the 
roadside  wondering  what  to  do  next.  It  seemed  impossible 
for    us    to    release    the    car    until    the   roads    dried,    and 


MY  JOURNEY  TO  CHORLOU     113 

another  shower  might  retard  this  indefinitely.  From 
this  predicament  we  were  saved  by  the  arrival  of  a  party 
of  soldiers,  twelve  in  number,  who  had  been  attracted 
to  the  spot  by  the  noise  of  the  engine  and  the  shouts  of 
the  bullock  driver.  Ismet  commandeered  them,  with  the 
promise  of  liberal  backsheesh,  to  assist  us.  They  put  their 
shoulders  to  the  wheels,  and  once  more  the  oxen  were 
harnessed  up  and  the  engine  started.  This  time  our  joint 
exertions  succeeded.  The  car  began  to  move  and  amidst 
loud  cheers  we  got  her  through  the  morass.  But  at 
what  a  cost !  That  morning  she  had  left  Constantinople 
on  her  maiden  journey,  brand  new,  her  beautiful  green 
paint  and  smart  appearance  a  source  of  constant  delight 
to  myself,  who  had  never  owned  a  car  or  ridden  in  one 
of  which  I  was  at  any  rate  the  temporary  master 
before.  Now  she  was  covered  with  mud  and  the  spokes 
of  the  wheels  had  completely  disappeared.  Her  paint 
had  been  scratched  off  outside  by  the  soldiers  and  inside 
by  the  packing  and  unpacking  of  the  baggage  and  tins 
of  oil.  She  had,  in  fact,  ceased  to  have  any  likeness  to 
a  new  car,  and  resembled  an  old  and  sorely  battered 
wreck. 

However,  to  our  infinite  relief,  we  found  the  machinery 
had  in  nowise  suffered,  and  after  paying  the  bullock-owner 
and  soldiers  liberally,  we  resumed  our  chequered  way. 
We  had,  however,  lost  two  precious  hours,  and  had  to 
abandon  any  idea  of  reaching  Chorlou  that  day.  As  if 
to  lure  us  on  to  our  eventual  doom,  the  road  now  became 
much  better,  having  lately  been  repaired  by  the  French 
Road  Company,  and  we  made  rapid  progress  as  far  as  the 
village  of  Kuyuk  Chekmedche,  where  we  crossed  the 
bridge  spanning  the  inlet  to  the  lake.  On  the  other  side 
we  were  delayed  for  some  time  by  soldiers  and  transport 
carts   making  their  way  to  the  front,  but,  having  shaken 


114         WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

them  off,  we  soon  reached  Buyuk  Chekmedche,  which  forms 
the  left  wing  of  the  famous  Chataldja  Hnes. 

The  road  here  is  carried  over  the  lake  by  a  giant  causeway, 
some  three  hundred  years  old,  built  by  one  of  the  Sultans. 
It  is  a  beautifully  artistic  structure,  but,  as  the  road  has  never 
been  repaired  since  it  was  built,  it  is  extremely  difficult 
to  avoid  falling  through  holes,  and  we  were  obliged  to 
proceed  with  extreme  caution.  On  the  other  side  of  the 
causeway  we  halted  for  lunch,  having  brought  provisions  for 
a  couple  of  days  in  the  cars.  Our  passage  through  the 
country  excited  the  wildest  interest  among  the  inhabitants, 
many  of  whom  had  never  seen  a  motor-car  before,  and  were 
astonished  beyond  measure  at  our  progress  without  horses, 
and  by  the  strange  noises  of  the  machinery.  Above  all, 
these  simple-minded  folk  loved  to  sound  the  tooter.  We 
had  to  keep  a  guard  on  the  car  to  prevent  spare  parts  and 
our  personal  effects  from  being  stolen. 

We  now  had  to  decide  which  road  we  would  take. 
We  could  either  follow  the  sea-shore,  or  else  turn  inland 
and  try  a  new  road  which  the  French  Company  had  told 
me  existed.  We  had  many  anxious  consultations  with  the 
local  villagers,  and  in  the  end  the  weight  of  opinion  was 
strongly  against  our  turning  inland,  as  we  were  told  the 
road  was  almost  impassable,  and  would  lead  us  up  amongst 
the  hills,  which  our  cars  would  very  likely  be  unable 
to  climb. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  village  of  Kalikratia  we 
met  with  our  second  mishap.  We  chmbed  the  steep  hill 
all  right  and  then  found  ourselves  on  an  upland  close  to 
the  sea  shore,  where  the  road  disappeared  altogether  and  we 
had  to  follow  stray  tracks  left  by  bullock-wagons,  or  made 
by  the  passage  of  the  transport  and  artillery  on  their  way  to 
the  front.  The  cars  could  easily  have  passed  over  these 
tracks  had  there  been  no  rain,  but  now  they  were  soft  beds 


THE   SECOND   BREAKDOWN  115 

of  mud,  and  we  were  in  constant  danger  of  sticking  once 
again.  At  length  we  came  to  a  ditch  and  stream  which 
completely  cut  the  road,  and  there  was  no  way  round.  My 
car,  with  infinite  difficulty,  managed  to  get  across,  but  as  it 
was  mounting  the  further  bank  it  struck  a  rock  with  terrific 
force  and  I  thought  something  must  be  smashed.  However, 
we  saw  no  damage  at  the  time. 

Then  came  the  turn  of  the  Daily  Mail  car.  Its  chauffeur 
had  been  abusing  mine  ever  since  we  had  stuck  earlier  in 
the  day,  on  account  of  his  bad  driving.  He  now  tried  to 
cross  the  brook  at  another  point  by  driving  at  a  terrific 
pace  right  through  it.  The  result  was  awful ;  the  car 
entered  the  water  with  a  mighty  splash,  refused  to  budge 
another  inch,  and  sank  in  the  mud  until  the  hind  wheels 
had  completely  disappeared  and  the  water  was  almost 
entering  the  body.  We  got  out  and  looked  at  it  in  dismay. 
We  tried  to  move  it  by  pushing,  but  it  was  hopeless. 
Then  we  tried  to  improvise  a  bridge  by  placing  boards  under 
the  wheels,  but  it  never  stirred. 

At  the  end  of  an  hour's  work  we  knew  we  were  beaten, 
unless  we  discovered  some  oxen.  Ismet  volunteered  to  go 
in  search  of  some,  and  half  an  hour  later  returned  with 
two  bullocks  and  their  driver,  which  he  had  commandeered 
out  of  a  plough  in  a  neighbouring  field.  Again  we  were 
successful,  but  we  had  lost  another  two  hours,  and  it  was 
now  three  o'clock  and  by  six  it  would  be  almost  dark. 

When  we  went  to  start  my  car  we  found  to  our  horror 
that  the  starting  lever  had  not  been  fastened  up,  and  that 
it  had  received  the  full  force  of  the  blow  when  we  struck 
the  rock,  with  the  natural  result  that  it  was  badly  bent 
and  we  could  not  start  the  engine.  This  time  I  thought 
we  were  absolutely  done,  but  by  the  joint  efforts  of  the 
two  chauffeurs  we  managed  to  hammer  it  back  more  or 
less  into  shape. 

I  2 


116         WITH  THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

By  four  o'clock  we  had  reached  a  village  called  Kum- 
burgas  on  the  sea  shore.  The  head  man,  or  mayor,  told 
us  it  would  be  useless  to  follow  the  road  along  the  shore, 
as  at  high  tide  it  was  washed  by  the  sea  and  the  water 
would  be  three  or  four  feet  deep.  He  advised  us  to  keep 
on  the  road  as  far  as  possible,  and  then  to  turn  inland 
and  go  across  country  until  we  had  passed  the  danger 
points.  His  words  were  true.  Long  before  we  had  reached 
the  village  of  Bogados  we  were  stopped  by  the  waves  and 
had  to  drive  across  country  at  a  very  slow  rate,  guessing 
what  tracks  to  foUow  and  frequently  having  to  retrace  our 
steps,  as  the  road  we  were  on  ended  in  a  morass. 

We  passed  through  several  small  villages  and  close  to 
one  of  these,  called  Jalos,  the  Daily  Mail-Times  car  came 
to  an  abrupt  stop,  and  the  chauffeur  announced  he  could 
go  no  further  as  his  pump  was  broken  and  the  gasoline 
would  no  longer  percolate  through  the  machinery.  I 
decided  to  abandon  him  and  the  car  together  with  Gordon, 
and  to  push  on  with  Sir  Bryan  Leighton.  We  promised 
to  send  back  the  first  brass-mender  we  could  find  in  any 
of  the  villages  to  help  him  make  good  the  damage. 
Gordon  we  advised  to  try  to  find  a  horse  and  to  make  his 
own  way  to  Chorion  or  else  to  return  to  Constantinople. 
It  was  impossible  to  take  him  with  us  as  our  car  was 
already  overcrowded,  and  he  refused  to  abandon  his  cine- 
matograph. 

About  six  o'clock  we  reached  the  large  village  of  Bogados, 
where  we  made  a  short  halt  to  refill  the  engine,  and  we  also 
found  a  workman  who  volunteered  to  return  and  help  mend 
the  Daily  Mail  car.  Then  we  pushed  on  to  Silivri.  If  the 
road  was  bad  before,  it  had  now  become  worse  and  our 
progress  was  merely  a  jolting  crawl.  To  make  matters 
worse,  darkness  began  rapidly  to  set  in  and,  unless  we 
succeeded   in    reaching    Silivri,    we  would  have   to    spend 


OUR   FIRST   BIVOUAC  117 

the  night  in  the  open.  Finally  it  became  so  dark  that 
Ismet,  Leighton,  and  myself  were  obliged  to  walk  in 
front  and  select  the  most  favourable  route  for  the  car  to 
follow. 

Suddenly  the  road  bifurcated  and  we  had  to  select  which 
one  to  follow.  In  the  darkness  we  took  a  track  which  led 
us  to  the  edge  of  a  minor  precipice  and  very  nearly  ended 
our  ill-starred  expedition.  Then  we  had  the  stupendous 
task  of  turning  the  car  round.  This  took  quite  half  an  hour, 
but  at  length  we  succeeded  and  got  on  the  right  road.  It 
was  now  quite  dark,  the  sky  was  clouded  and  there 
was  no  moon  or  stars  to  help  us  on  our  way.  We  had  to 
admit  we  were  beaten  and  to  reconcile  ourselves  to  spending 
a  night  in  the  open. 

Fortunately,  we  had  stuck  near  a  fountain  close  to  the 
roadside,  and  a  small  hut,  evidently  a  shelter  intended  for 
belated  travellers.  The  interior  of  the  hut  was  too  filthy 
for  Ismet,  Leighton,  and  myself,  but  it  served  for  the 
purpose  of  cooking  in.  There  was  some  dry  brushwood 
inside  and  with  this  we  made  a  fire  and  heated  some  cocoa. 
Then,  with  sardines,  bread,  and  a  tongue,  we  had  a  toler- 
able evening  meal.  Sir  Bryan  Leighton  had  with  him  a 
small  shelter  tent,  supposed  to  be  waterproof,  which  he 
had  bought  just  before  leaving  England.  We  decided  to 
sleep  in  this,  while  Ismet  and  the  chauffeur  took  shelter 
in  the  motor,  which  had  a  hood  which  completely  covered 
it  in. 

We  had  hardly  got  the  tent  up  when  the  rain  began  tc 
fall  in  a  deluge,  the  like  of  which  I  have  never  seen  before 
in  any  part  of  the  world.  It  came  down  in  one  great  sheet, 
like  a  wave.  In  less  time  than  it  takes  to  write  these  words 
it  had  completely  soaked  through  the  tent  and  lay  an  inch 
deep  on  the  canvas  floor.  However,  this  made  no  difference 
to  me.    I  had  no  sleep  the  night  before  I  left  Constantinople, 


118  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

and  the  exertions  of  the  journey  on  the  top  of  my  illness 
had  completely  worn  me  out.  I  fell  asleep  and  neither  the 
rain,  nor  the  howling  of  the  wind,  nor  the  curses  of  Leighton 
disturbed  my  slumbers. 

I  had  gone  to  sleep  about  nine  o'clock  and  did  not  wake 
until  3  a.m.  Then  I  was  aroused  by  a  feeling  of  being  icy 
cold.  I  had  one  of  those  patent  electric  lamps,  which  I 
turned  on,  and  to  my  astonishment  found  I  was  alone  in 
the  tent,  for  Leighton  and  all  his  belongings  had  dis- 
appeared. My  own  plight  was  a  sorry  one.  I  was  lying 
in  two  or  three  inches  of  water,  I  was  soaked  through  to 
the  skin,  and  my  teeth  were  chattering  from  the  cold. 
The  rain  was  still  coming  down  in  torrents.  Along 
the  road  I  saw  dim  figures,  mysterious  in  the  darkness, 
and  heard  the  rumble  of  wagons.  It  was  the  transport 
train  which  we  had  passed  earlier  in  the  day  and  which  was 
pushing  on  to  Silivri. 

Several  soldiers  came  to  the  fountain  for  water  and  were 
amazed  to  find  our  motor-car,  the  interior  of  which  they 
proceeded  to  investigate,  arousing  Ismet  from  his  slumbers 
and  calhng  forth  from  him  a  torrent  of  Turkish  invective, 
which,  by  the  way,  is  in  no  way  inferior  to  our  own. 

I  then  went  inside  the  hut  and  lit  a  candle.  There  I 
found  Bryan  Leighton  comfortably  installed  on  Ismet's 
camp  bed,  which  he  had  taken  from  the  motor-car.  I  felt 
inclined  to  turn  him  out  and  have  a  share  of  it,  but 
1  was  so  cold  and  wet  that  rest  was  impossible.  I 
was  very  afraid  of  getting  a  return  of  influenza  from  my 
immersion,  or  else  of  having  an  attack  of  rheumatism.  I 
managed  with  difficulty  to  light  the  fire  once  again  and  to 
set  the  kettle  boiling.  Then  I  took  a  large  tumbler  and 
filled  it  half  full  of  Black  and  White  whiskey,  taking  nearly 
a  third  of  the  bottle.  Then  I  poured  the  boiling  water  into 
the  glass,  put  in  two  lumps  of  sugar,  and  drank  the  whole 


SOAKED   THROUGH  119 

down.  This  was  the  strongest  drink  I  have  ever  had  in  my 
Kfe  and  I  never  wish  to  take  another  hke  it.  However,  it  had 
the  desired  effect  and  restored  my  rapidly- vanishing  circula- 
tion. I  then  took  off  the  wettest  of  my  garments,  stole 
two  rugs  off  Leighton's  bed,  lay  down  on  the  floor  and  once 
more  fell  asleep. 


CHAPTER   X 

MY   FIRST    MEETING    WITH   ABDULLAH 

At  six  I  again  woke  up  frozen  through,  for  the  weather 
was  bitterly  cold.  I  aroused  the  others  and  once  more 
the  kettle  was  put  on  to  boil,  and  we  had  a  frugal  breakfast, 
as  our  provisions  were  rapidly  running  out.  The  chauffeur 
now  set  to  work  to  tune  up  the  car.  The  first  delay 
was  caused  by  the  gasoline  having  frozen  into  a  yellow 
jelly  during  the  night.  This  took  some  time  to  put  right. 
Then  the  tank  had  to  be  refilled  with  petrol.  This  was  a 
very  difficult  task,  because  we  had  had  a  rest  fastened  on  the 
back  of  the  car  to  carry  baggage,  and  the  idiots  in  Constan- 
tinople had  almost  covered  up  the  entrance  to  the  tank. 

Then  commenced  the  fearful  task  of  trying  to  start  the 
engine.  The  starting  lever  was  useless  as,  owing  to 
being  bent,  it  would  not  enter  the  socket,  and  the  only 
way  of  starting  the  engine  was  by  pushing  the  car  uphill 
and  allowing  it  to  run  down  again.  At  half-past  eight 
the  engine  began  to  work  and  we  were  feeling  more 
light-hearted,  when  we  found  one  of  the  tyres  required 
pumping  up.  Then  slowly  the  horrid  truth  dawned 
upon  us  that  it  was  punctured.  This  was  the  last 
straw.  But  there  was  no  help  for  it,  and  we  set  to 
work  to  assist  the  chauffeur  to  change  the  tyre.  It  was  a 
long  and  difficult  process,  because  the  wheels  were  absolutely 


SILIVRI  121 

caked  with  mud,  and  every  screw  and  nut  had  to  be  washed 
in  the  fountain.  The  cause  of  the  trouble  was  found  to  be  a 
nail  two  inches  long,  which  had  passed  completely  through 
the  outer  cover  on  into  the  inner  tube. 

It  was  nearly  ten  o'clock  before  we  were  once  more  under 
way.  How  can  I  describe  the  state  of  the  road  ?  It  baffles 
my  poor  descriptive  powers  to  do  so.  It  was  bad  enough 
on  the  previous  day,  but  after  the  night's  downpour  it  had 
lost  all  semblance  of  being  even  a  track,  and  was  feet  deep 
in  mud  and  slime.  How  the  car  ever  managed  to  get 
through  is  a  mystery  that  I  will  not  attempt  to  solve. 

We  climbed  a  gentle  slope,  from  the  top  of  which  we 
saw  the  village  of  Silivri  at  our  feet.  We  had  camped 
within  about  two  miles  of  it  without  knowing.  The  descent 
into  Silivri  is  very  dangerous,  and  was  rendered  additionally 
so  by  the  slippery  nature  of  the  mud.  The  car  side-slipped 
in  all  directions,  and  frequently  turned  right  round.  Just 
as  we  were  entering  the  village  we  came  to  a  high  cause- 
way with  an  unprotected  drop  of  some  twenty  feet.  I 
begged  the  chauffeur,  who  had  now  completely  lost  his 
nerve,  to  take  care,  but  it  was  in  vain.  The  car  got  out  of 
his  control  and  side-slipped  absolutely  to  the  edge  of  the 
embankment.  I  thought  that  it  was  all  over  with  us.  There 
was  not  an  inch  to  spare  when  he  managed  to  jamb  on  the 
brakes  and  bring  it  to  a  standstill. 

We  found  the  village  of  Silivri  blocked  with  the  great  train 
of  bullock- wagons  which  had  passed  us  in  the  night,  and  which 
was  just  preparing  to  continue  its  dreary  crawl  to  Chorion.  In 
the  village  we  bought  some  steel  chains  and  bound  them  round 
the  wheels  to  act  as  non-skids.  On  the  other  side  of  Silivri 
the  road  passes  over  a  causeway  which  is  in  a  terrible  state 
from  lack  of  repair,  and  then  makes  a  very  steep  ascent  up 
an  old  Roman-paved  road  to  reach  the  tableland  beyond. 
The  road  was  almost  blocked  with  bullock-wagons,  and  it 


122         WITH   THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  we  made  our  way 
through. 

We  met  some  refugees  and  one  old  Turkish  woman 
mounted  on  a  horse  which  took  fright  at  the  car  and 
deposited  the  poor  old  girl  in  deep  water,  from  which  she 
was  rescued  by  some  soldiers.  We  paid  her  liberally  for  her 
misadventure. 

We  encountered  terrible  difficulties  in  climbing  the  old 
Roman  road  out  of  Silivri.  The  surface  was  almost  com- 
pletely destroyed  ;  ancient  cobbles  lay  about  obstructing  the 
wheels,  which  from  time  to  time  would  sink  deep  into 
holes  that  had  once  provided  beds  for  these  obstructions. 
To  add  to  our  troubles,  the  rain  had  rendered  the  stones 
extremely  greasy.  About  half-way  up  the  car  came  to  a 
dead  stop  and  commenced  to  run  backwards.  We  checked 
this  movement  to  the  rear  by  placing  stones  behind  the 
wheels.  The  car  had  come  to  a  standstill  sideways  across 
the  road  and  completely  blocked  the  passage  of  the  great 
bullock  train,  which  also  came  to  a  compulsory  halt. 

Here  I  made  the  acquaintance  for  the  first  time  of  the 
officer  in  charge  of  the  train,  whose  name  I  have  unfortunately 
forgotten,  for  he  proved  himself  a  veritable  friend  in  need. 
He  ordered  one  of  the  bullock-wagons  to  be  fastened  to  the 
car,  and  by  this  means  we  were  able  to  get  it  to  the  top  of 
the  incline.  But  our  troubles  were  not  over.  The  grassy 
plateau  close  to  the  sea  shore,  over  which  we  now  passed, 
was  a  quagmire  from  the  rain  which  had  fallen  during  the 
night,  and,  try  as  we  would,  the  wheels  would  only  revolve 
impotently  beneath  us  without  enforcing  any  propelling 
motion. 

Again  the  officer  in  charge  came  to  our  assistance. 
He  pointed  out  that  the  road  was  in  the  same  condition  all 
the  way  to  Chorlou,  and  that  there  was  absolutely  no 
chance  of  the  car  ever  reaching  that  haven  of  refuge,  unless 


THE   CONVOY  123 

the  bullocks  dragged  it  there.  He  offered  to  have  one  of  the 
bullock-wagons  unloaded  and  its  contents  placed  on  other 
carts,  so  that  it  might  be  free  to  drag  us  all  the  rest 
of  the  way.  To  this  proposition  we  agreed  reluctantly, 
because  it  meant  another  two  days  on  the  road,  and 
I  was  dreadfully  worried  lest  a  great  battle  should  take 
place  in  my  absence.  Throughout  the  morning  we 
thought  we  heard  the  sound  of  guns,  but  I  believe  it 
came  from  our  imagination  rather  than  from  the  hostile 
armies. 

The  same  officer  also  lent  me  a  horse  to  ride,  and  it 
was  pleasant  to  leave  the  old  car  and  canter  ahead  of 
the  great  train  of  wagons,  and  to  feel  I  was  free  and  not 
stuck  in  the  mud  for  the  rest  of  my  natural  existence. 

The  soldiers  with  the  convoy  were  engaged  in  clearing  out 
the  country  as  they  passed  through  it.  They  visited  every 
village,  farm,  and  hamlet,  and  seized  all  the  horses  and 
commandeered  all  the  able-bodied  men,  whether  Turks, 
Bulgarians,  or  Servians,  to  serve  in  the  ranks.  These  came 
very  reluctantly,  but  there  was  no  help  for  them,  and  soon 
there  were  several  hundred  of  the  ill-clad  unfortunates  walking 
parallel  with  the  train  under  the  escort  of  armed  sentries, 
to  discourage   them   from   attempting   to   escape. 

Shortly  after  this  we  came  to  two  streams  which  were 
extremely  difficult  to  cross  on  account  of  the  mud  and  the 
shelving  banks.  Even  the  stout  oxen  had  trouble  in  pulling 
the  lightly  laden  wagons  through  them,  and  our  motor  car 
could  never  have  crossed  but  for  their  assistance.  I  watched 
the  whole  train  pass  and  found  the  motor  was  a  long  way  in 
the  rear.  I  rode  back  and  found  it  had  been  in  endless  diffi- 
culties, chiefly  owing  to  the  bad  steering  of  the  chauffisur, 
who  would  allow  too  sudden  strains  on  the  rope  attaching 
it  to  the  ox-wagon,  with  the  natural  result  that  the  rope  was 
continually  breaking.       However,   after   endless   exertions, 


124  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

we  at  length  got  it  across  the  two  brooks.  Shortly  after- 
wards the  road  became   much  better  for  a  stretch. 

Here  1  did  a  foolish  thing.  I  was  led  to  believe  the  car  would 
be  able  to  go  without  assistance,  and,  as  we  were  only  making 
a  mile  an  hour  with  the  oxen,  I  ordered  them  to  be  cast  off, 
and  the  soldier  driving  the  cart  was  only  too  pleased  to 
accede  to  my  request.  The  cart  went  on  and  was  soon 
out  of  sight  over  a  rise  in  the  ground,  before  we  had  even 
succeeded  in  starting  the  engine,  owing  to  the  bent  lever. 
When  the  engine  was  at  length  started  we  moved  forward 
fairly  rapidly  for  about  a  mile  and  then  came  to  a  morass 
of  mud  and  ruts.  We  put  on  all  speed  and  endeavoured 
to  force  our  way  through  it,  but  it  was  all  in  vain.  The 
car  stuck  and  sank  above  the  axles  in  the  mud  until  the 
machinery  of   the   engine  was   also   resting   in   the   shme. 

This  time  we  were  down  and  out.  The  bullock  train 
was  already  some  three  miles  away,  and  there  was  no  likeli- 
hood of  anyone  returning  to  assist  us.  Every  horse,  ox, 
and  able-bodied  man  capable  of  bearing  arms,  had  been 
swept  up  by  the  onward  march  of  the  column,  and  we  were 
stranded  at  4  o'clock,  on  a  bitterly  cold  afternoon,  on  a  high 
plateau,  close  to  the  sea,  without  shelter,  without  water, 
almost  without  food — for  only  some  chocolate  and  a  few 
biscuits  remained  of  the  store  which  we  had  brought  with  us 
from  Constantinople. 

I  think,  for  the  first  time,  a  feeling  akin  to  despair 
crept  over  us  all.  For  some  time  we  said  nothing,  but 
sat  ruefully  contemplating  the  car,  the  wheels  of  which 
had  almost  completely  disappeared.  Then  we  held  a 
consultation.  I  suggested  that  Ismet  should  return  to 
Silivri  and  endeavour  to  obtain  oxen  to  drag  the  car  back 
into  the  village,  and  at  the  same  time  hire  horses  to  enable 
us  to  continue  our  journey  to  Chorion.  Suddenly  a  bullock- 
wagon   appeared.     It  belonged   to  a  party  of  refugees  on 


I    ABANDON   THE   MOTOR-CAR  125 

their  way  to  Stamboul.  The  oxen  were,  however,  in  poor 
condition,  and  they  could  not  budge  the  car  an  inch.  In 
fact  it  was  painfully  obvious  that,  until  the  roads  dried,  the 
car  would  remain  stuck  exactly  where  it  was.  In  these 
circumstances  we  felt  it  would  be  useless  to  return  to  Silivri 
and  I  was  extremely  reluctant  to  retrace  my  steps,  as  my 
one  desire  at  this  moment  was  to  press  on  to  Chorion,  so  as 
to  be  in  time  for  the  great  battle. 

At  last  we  agreed  on  an  alternative  plan.  It  was  decided 
that  Ismet  and  myself  should  walk  on  and  endeavour  to 
overtake  the  convoy  at  its  halting  place,  and  ask  the 
commandant  to  send  back  soldiers  and  bullocks,  and  to 
take  charge  of  the  car  until  we  reached  Chorion.  Sir 
Bryan  Leighton  and  the  chauffeur  were  to  remain  with  it 
during  the  night.  Ismet  and  myself  lost  no  time,  but  set 
off  through  the  mud.  I  looked  back  and  saw  two  melan- 
choly figures.  Sir  Bryan  and  the  worn-out,  miserable 
chauffeur,  endeavouring  to  obtain  some  shelter  from  the  icy 
wind  by  erecting  the  wretched  shelter-tent  that  had  taken  in 
so  much  water  on  the  previous  evening. 

I  shall  not  forget  in  a  hurry  that  horrible  tramp  through 
the  mud,  which  Ismet  and  myself  had  after  the  bullock  train. 
It  was  4  p.m.  when  we  started — that  day  we  had  only  made 
5  kilometres  in  the  car — and  only  two  hours  more  remained 
of  daylight.  I  detest  walking  at  any  time,  and  had  on  a 
pair  of  field-boots,  which,  having  been  soaked  through  on 
the  previous  evening,  now  stuck  to  my  feet  and  hurt  them 
horribly. 

We  came  to  a  river  which  cut  the  road,  and  wondered 
how  we  were  to  cross  it  without  becoming  soaked  up  to 
our  waists.  There  was  a  small  party  of  Turkish  soldiers 
encamped  on  the  bank,  and  they  were  good  enough  to 
make  us  some  tea.  They  also  told  us  that  the  convoy 
had  split  in  two  portions  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  in 


126         WITH  THE  TURKS   IN  THRACE 

order  to  find  shelter  for  the  night  at  two  farms.  One 
powerful  soldier  then  volunteered  to  carry  us  through  the 
river  on  his  back,  an  offer  which  was  gratefully  accepted,  as 
neither  Ismet  nor  I  wished  to  be  immersed  in  the  icy  cold 
water  just  at  sunset. 

It  was  half  past  six  when,  footsore  and  weary,  we  reached 
the  farm.  Here  we  found  our  friend  encamped.  We  told 
him  of  our  troubles  and  difficulties.  I  believe  the  Captain's 
name  was  Fouad,  but  if  it  was  not,  I  hope,  if  he  ever  reads 
these  lines,  that  he  will  accept  for  himself  the  infinite 
thanks  I  tender  him  now  for  all  that  he  did  for  us  on  this 
critical  evening,  when  any  delay  would  have  meant  failure 
to  witness  the  battle  of  Lule  Burgas. 

Both  Ismet  and  I  were  worn  out,  but  we  agreed  we  must 
push  on  to  Chorlou  that  night,  even  if  we  had  to  do  so  on 
foot.  The  Captain  then  suggested  the  following  plan,  which 
we  adopted.  He  undertook  to  send  back  that  same  night 
to  the  car  an  escort  of  twelve  soldiers,  four  strong  oxen,  and 
some  stout  rope,  as  well  as  spades,  so  as  to  dig  it  out  of  the 
mud.  He  undertook  to  find  two  horses  for  Ismet  and 
myself  and  to  put  us  on  the  road  to  Chorlou.  The  horses 
we  were  to  hand  back  to  him  on  his  arrival  in  Chorlou, 
which  place  he  hoped  to  reach  in  two  days'  time.  He  said 
he  would  accept  full  responsibility  for  our  motor-car  and  for 
the  baggage,  and  would  undertake  to  deliver  the  lot  safe  and 
sound  to  us.  He  also  said  that  he  would  look  after  Sir 
Bryan  I^eighton  and  the  chauffeur. 

He  advised  Ismet  and  myself  to  stay  the  night  at  the 
farm  and  to  push  on  to  Chorlou  at  dawn,  as  it  was  an 
eight  hours'  ride  and  the  temperature  had  fallen  below  zero. 
Although  the  temptation  to  remain  was  almost  irresistible 
Ismet  and  I  resolutely  refused,  and  this  decision  to  push 
on  at  all  costs  just  brought  us  to  the  front  in  time,  as  the 
sequel  will  show. 


A  NIGHT  RIDE  127 

But  we  were  hungry.  We  thought  that  Captain  Fouad 
would  offer  us  something  to  eat  before  we  started  on  our 
night  ride,  but  unfortunately  the  owner  of  the  farm  had 
fled  and  his  house  was  shut  up,  so  the  unfortunate  officers  of 
the  convoy  had  little  to  eat  themselves.  However,  he  did 
give  us  a  cup  of  Turkish  coffee.  Then  he  announced  the 
horses  were  ready. 

To  our  surprise,  on  entering  the  farm-yard  we  found  an 
escort  of  twelve  soldiers  under  a  sergeant,  whom  Captain 
Fouad  announced  were  to  accompany  us  to  Chorion.  It 
seemed  little  short  of  cruelty  to  ask  these  men  to  walk  some 
forty  kilometres  after  they  had  been  on  the  march  all  day 
and  for  several  previous  days,  and  we  begged  him  to  allow 
us  to  proceed  alone,  as  we  felt  sure  we  could  find  the  road. 
But  the  Captain  would  not  hear  of  this.  He  said  the 
country  was  infested  with  brigands,  Bulgarian  sympathisers, 
and  disbanded  soldiers,  who  might  murder  us  without  com- 
punction, in  which  case  he  would  be  responsible.  There 
was  no  help  for  it,  so  mounting  our  horses,  we  set  off  in  the 
darkness  with   our  escort   in  front. 

I  do  not  think  that  Ismet  and  I  will  ever  forget  that 
night  ride  to  Chorion.  For  the  first  two  hours  all  went 
well,  but  then  an  icy  cold  wind  sprang  up  and  chilled  us  to 
the  bone.  We  were  soon  glad  to  dismount  and  warm 
ourselves  by  walking.  We  became  more  and  more  hungry, 
until  the  feeling  of  emptiness  became  almost  insupportable. 
Ismet  found  unexpectedly  in  his  pocket  a  cake  of  chocolate 
which,  to  use  the  well-known  advertisement,  was  "  both 
grateful  and  comforting."  He  also  had  a  small  flask  of 
brandy,  of  which  we  took  mouthfuls  at  intervals  throughout 
the  night  just  to  restore  a  temporary  warmth  to  our  bodies. 

Once  we  lost  the  road,  some  of  the  escort  going  one 
way  and  some  another.  This  caused  a  delay,  before  the 
stragglers  were  found  again.     As  we  drew  nearer  Chorlou 


128         WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

the  ground  rose,  and  we  passed  over  a  high  plateau,  across 
which  the  wind  swept  in  an  icy  blast,  until  even  the  patient 
Turkish  soldiers  began  to  grumble.  By  this  time  they  had 
become  so  exhausted  that  two  of  them  could  hardly  keep  up 
with  us,  and  we  were  obliged  to  make  frequent  halts.  We 
gave  them  rides  on  the  horses,  but  this  was  not  much 
relief,  as  the  weary  beasts  were  continually  stumbling  over 
the   ruts  which   had  by  now  hardened. 

We  came  upon  some  refugees,  who  were  camped  close  to 
the  road,  endeavouring  to  warm  themselves  by  a  fire.  It  was 
a  sad  sight.  The  oxen  lay  round  in  a  circle  so  as  to  obtain  the 
benefit  of  the  friendly  blaze ;  the  women  and  children  lay 
mixed  up  with  the  oxen,  obtaining  warmth  from  their  bodies 
on  one  side  and  from  the  fire  on  the  other.  Our  escort 
immediately  surrounded  the  camp  and  demanded  if  they 
had  any  arms.  This  the  spokesman  of  the  party  denied,  but 
the  sergeant  was  not  satisfied.  He  ordered  his  men  to  turn 
everything  out  of  the  wagons  and  to  search  them.  Beneath 
a  miscellaneous  and  filthy  collection  of  old  clothes,  house- 
hold furniture  and  bags  of  oats,  two  rifles,  a  Mauser  and  a 
Martini,  were  unearthed.  The  sergeant  cursed  the  refugees 
for  having  lied  to  him,  and  then  we  proceeded  on 
our  way.  Shortly  afterwards  we  came  upon  a  second 
camp  and  secured  two  more  rifles. 

It  seemed  cruel  to  disturb  these  poor  wretches,  who  were 
only  bent  on  reaching  Stamboul  and  crossing  into  Asia  Minor, 
but  the  soldiers  had  received  stringent  orders  to  disarm  all  the 
civilian  population  and  these  orders  had  to  be  obeyed.  They 
soon  found  the  additional  burden  of  these  four  rifles  unbear- 
able, and  I  think  were  extremely  sorry  they  had  ever  found 
them.  I  relieved  them  of  two  and  carried  them  for  a  time 
across  my  saddle,  but  the  cold  steel  soon  froze  my  fingers  and 
I  returned  them  to  their  owners.  Long  before  we  reached 
Chorion  they  had  disappeared.     I  did  not  see  actually  what 


WE   REACH    CHORLOU  129 

became  of  them,  but  I  fancy  the  soldiers,  without  consulting 
the  sergeant,  chucked  them  aside,  after  first  removing  the 
bolts  from  the  breech  blocks. 

Between  one  and  two  a.m.  we  saw  the  glare  of  some 
lights  in  the  distance,  which  the  soldiers  declared  must  come 
from  the  camps  round  Chorlou.  This  welcome  sight  roused 
our  drooping  spirits,  but  it  seemed  an  endless  time  before 
we  reached  the  outskirts  of  the  village,  and  it  was  not  until 
close  on  two-thirty  a.m.  that  we  finally  entered  the  streets 
of  the  town. 

Ismet  and  I  expected  on  reaching  Chorlou  to  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  finding  the  camp  of  the  correspondents.  Naturally  at 
this  hour  there  were  but  few  astir,  except  the  sentries  over  the 
buildings  which  were  being  used  by  the  military  authorities. 
Ismet  made  careful  inquiries  of  them  as  to  the  whereabouts 
of  our  colleagues,  but  could  obtain  no  satisfactory  reply. 
One  of  the  soldiers,  however,  at  length  declared  they  were 
in  certain  houses  in  the  town.  We  repaired  to  one  of  the 
houses  he  had  named,  but  found  it  full  of  weary  soldiers. 
We  continued  our  search,  but  without  success.  At  length 
an  officer  told  us  they  were  not  in  the  town  of  Chorlou,  but 
were  camped  close  to  the  railway  station  two  miles  away. 

This  was  bad  news  as  it  meant  we  would  have  to  take  the 
road  once  more.  However,  the  prospect  of  food  and 
shelter  proved  irresistible,  and  after  thanking  him  we  once 
more,  rode  out  of  Chorlou.  Meanwhile,  our  escort  had 
disappeared.  The  moment  they  reached  Chorlou,  without 
even  bidding  us  farewell  or  giving  us  the  opportunity  of 
handing  them  over  any  backsheesh,  they  bolted  to  the 
nearest  local  inn  to  obtain  rest  and  refreshment.  We  soon 
reached  the  neighbourhood  of  the  railway  station,  passing 
through  endless  standing  camps  of  white  tents,  the  larger 
number  of  which  seemed  to  be  deserted,  as  the  troops  had 
been  pushed  on  to  the  north.    There  was  no  one  about  at  the 

K 


130  WITH   THE  TURKS   IN  THRACE 

railway  station  except  a  sentry  who  could  give  us  but  little 
reliable  information.  He  said  he  had  heard  that  some 
Europeans  had  been  camped  there,  but  he  thought  they 
had  already  left. 

He  gave  us  one  piece  of  news  which  seemed  to  offer 
a  ray  of  hope,  namely,  that  Abdullah,  the  Commander-in- 
Chief,  and  his  Staff  were  in  a  barrack  placed  on  a  high 
hill  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  station. 

By  this  time  Ismet  and  I  were  thoroughly  fed  up  with 
life.  We  were  almost  frozen,  worn  out  with  fatigue,  and  so 
hungry  that  the  mere  mention  of  food  almost  caused  tears 
to  fall  from  our  eyes.  We  lost  no  time  in  hastening  up  the 
steep  hill  to  the  barrack,  where  we  expected  to  learn 
definitely  what  had  become  of  the  correspondents. 

A  sentry  was  on  guard,  and  he  was  greatly  surprised  at  our 
sudden  apparition  in  the  middle  of  the  night.  Ismet  explained 
the  position.  The  sentry  replied  that  there  were  no  corres- 
pondents at  the  barracks,  and  that  he  had  not  heard  of  any 
at  Chorion.  He  advised  us  to  see  the  officer  in  charge  of 
the  guard  who  might  be  able  to  give  us  some  information. 
We  found  the  officer  asleep  in  a  room.  He  was  very  agree- 
able, but  had  no  news.  He  showed  us  where  Abdullah  was 
sleeping  and  advised  us  to  ask  one  of  his  staff  officers. 

I  said  to  Ismet,  "  It  does  not  matter  where  the  camp  is. 
We  must  have  shelter  for  the  night.  I  don't  care  where  we 
find  it,  but  I  shall  freeze  if  I  have  to  stay  out  in  the  cold  any 
longer."  Ismet  quite  agreed  with  me  and  whilst  I  held  both 
horses  he  knocked  at  the  door  and  was  admitted  by  a  sleepy 
orderly.  It  seemed  an  endless  time  before  he  again  made 
his  appearance,  and  I  began  to  think  he  had  gone  to  sleep 
and  had  forgotten  all  about  me,  when  he  appeared  at  the 
door,  his  face  wreathed  in  smiles. 

"It  is  alright,"  he  said;  "you  can  come  in,  for  the 
Commander-in-Chief,  Abdullah  Pasha,  wants  to  see  you." 


ISMET  WAKES   ABDULLAH  131 

*'  What  have  you  done,  Ismet  ?  "  I  replied.  "  I  hope 
you  have  not  awakened  the  Commander-in-Chief." 

'*  Yes,"  he  rephed.  "  I  went  inside  and  found  his  two 
staff-officers  asleep  in  bed.  I  woke  them  up,  and  explained 
matters ;  but  they  only  replied,  *  We  can  do  nothing  for 
you.  You  must  go  and  find  shelter  in  the  village  of 
Chorion.'  Suddenly  I  remembered  that  Abdullah  is  a 
distant  cousin  of  mine,  so  I  went  to  his  room  feeling  quite 
desperate  from  the  cold  and  hunger,  and  woke  him  up,  to 
the  horror  of  his  aides-de-camp.  Abdullah  was  immensely 
surprised  to  see  me,  and  thought  I  had  dropped  from  the 
skies.  I  explained  to  him  our  position,  and  that  you  were 
outside  in  the  cold,  and  he  immediately  told  me  to  bring 
you  up  to  him.     Now  we  are  sure  of  shelter  for  the  night." 

Ismet  and  I  then  entered  the  Commander-in-Chiefs 
presence,  who  greeted  me  as  if  I  were  his  best  friend,  and 
had  known  him  all  my  life.  Abdullah  is  a  big  man  with  a 
splendid  head,  rather  grey  hair  and  a  moustache.  He 
has  the  most  kindly  expression  always  on  his  face,  and  looks 
the  typical  English  country  squire  of  tradition.  He  was 
seated  on  the  edge  of  his  bed,  clad  in  pyjamas,  with  his 
great-coat  wrapped  round  him.  I  apologised  for  disturbing 
him  at  such  an  hour,  but  he  merely  laughed  and  said  :  "  It 
matters  little  to  me  these  days  what  hour  I  am  awakened, 
because  telegrams  are  coming  in  at  all  hours  of  the  night, 
and  I  am  only  too  glad  to  be  of  any  assistance  to  you.  You 
must  be  hungry.  Unfortunately,  my  cooks  left  last  night 
for  another  destination,  but  I  will  get  my  servant  to  make 
you  some  tea,  and  I  think  I  can  find  you  some  cheese  and 
biscuits." 

Shortly  afterwards  Abdullah's  servant  appeared  with  tea, 
biscuits  and  cheese,  which  was  one  of  the  most  welcome 
repasts  I  have  ever  sat  down  to.  After  I  had  eaten  for 
some  time  Abdullah  insisted  on  my  telling  him  every  detail 

k2 


132  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

of  my  journey  from  Constantinople,  and  laughed  heartily  at 
the  picture  I  drew  of  the  motor,  moving  at  two  miles  an 
hour,  drawn  by  oxen. 

I  asked  him  where  the  correspondents  were  quartered,  to 
which  he  replied :  "  I  have  not  seen  them  yet.  They  were 
here  for  a  few  days,  but  they  have  now  gone  on  to  Lule 
Burgas.  I  suppose  you  want  to  get  there  as  soon  as 
possible.    Well,  I  will  see  if  you  can  go  by  train  to-morrow." 

I  then  asked  the  Commander-in-Chief  if  I  had  missed  a 
big  battle,  to  which  he  replied :  "  No ;  you  have  missed 
nothing.  There  has  only  been  some  desultory  fighting 
round  Kirk  Kilisse,  and  we  have  not  yet  had  300  wounded. 
So  do  not  worry ;  you  will  see  a  big  battle  yet." 

How  little  did  I  realise  then  the  dramatic  manner  in 
which  the  general's  prophecy  would  shortly  be  realised  I 
Neither  did  Abdullah  himself  foresee  that  the  great  battle 
would  come  so  soon,  because  he  told  me  he  expected  to 
remain  in  Chorion  for  another  two  days.  He  then  went  on 
to  speak  of  the  immense  difficulties  which  confronted  his 
army  in  the  campaign,  of  the  terrible  state  of  the  roads,  of 
the  insufficiency  of  transport,  and  of  the  poverty  of  the 
country,  which  was  quite  incapable  of  supporting  a  large 
army  of  more  than  100,000  men.  He  spoke  with  the  greatest 
misgiving  of  the  prospects  of  a  winter's  snows. 

We  talked  for  nearly  an  hour,  and  then  the  Mushir  said, 
"You  must  be  worn  out,  and  sleep  will  do  you  good. 
There  is  no  place  to  put  you  here,  but  I  will  turn  out  some 
of  my  staff-officers  and  make  them  give  you  their  beds." 

I  begged  Abdullah  to  do  nothing  of  the  sort,  but  he 
laughed  and  replied,  "  Do  not  worry ;  they  have  slept  quite 
long  enough.  I  have  lots  of  work  for  them  to  do,  and  it 
won't  hurt  them  to  get  up  now." 

The  two  staff-officers  were  therefore  aroused  from  their 
slumbers,  and,  although  they  displayed  no  outward  annoy- 


BAD   NEWS  133 

ance,  must  have  inwardly  cursed  our  intrusion  on  their 
well-earned  repose. 

Ismet  and  myself  only  had  four  hours'  sleep,  for  at  8  a.m. 
on  Monday,  October  28th,  we  were  roused  by  one  of 
Abdullah's  A.D.C.'s,  who  came  to  tell  us  that  a  train  was 
expected  from  the  south,  bearing  the  Minister  of  War, 
Nazim  Pasha,  and  would  afterwards  go  on  to  Lule  Burgas,  and 
that  if  we  cared  to  travel  by  it  we  might  do  so.  We  got  up 
at  once,  and  one  of  the  A.D.C.'s,  who  apparently  bore  us  no 
grudge  for  having  been  turned  out  of  his  bed  at  4  a.m. 
to  make  room  for  us,  brought  us  a  cup  of  coiFee  and  some 
biscuits. 

I  then  went  to  bid  farewell  to  Abdullah,  and  to 
thank  him  for  the  great  kindness  which  he  had  shown  us 
both.  The  Commander-in-Chief  was  sitting  at  a  table 
poring  over  the  Turkish  Staff  Map  of  Thrace.  He  did 
not  seem  nearly  so  cheerful  as  a  few  hours  before,  and  I  am 
inclined  to  think  he  had  received  some  bad  news  that 
morning.  It  was  probably  the  news  of  the  defeat  of  the  1st 
Army  Corps  between  Kavakli  and  Jenidze,  on  October  25th, 
but  it  is  almost  incredible  that  this  information  did  not  reach 
him  before  the  morning  of  October  28th.  However, 
considering  the  appalling  state  of  confusion  which  reigned 
everywhere,  and  the  almost  entire  absence  of  any  means  of 
communication,  it  is  feasible  that  it  did  not  reach  head- 
quarters until  the  dawn  of  October  28th.  At  any  rate, 
in  the  course  of  his  conversation  with  me  in  the  middle  of 
the  night,  Abdullah  made  no  mention  of  this  reverse,  and  to 
judge  from  his  outward  demeanour  he  was  perfectly  cheerful 
and  confident,  and  he  declared  emphatieally  that  the 
army  had  suffered  only  three  hundred  casualties  up-to- 
date. 

Abdullah  also  promised  to  look  after  Sir  Bryan  Leighton 
on  his  arrival,  and  to  send  him  on  to  Lule  Burgas  by  the  first 


184  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

available  train.  I  then  bade  him  farewell,  little  dreaming 
that  a  night  later  I  would  meet  him  in  such  dramatic 
circumstances. 

Monday,  October  28th,  was  one  of  the  coldest  days  I  have 
known  since  the  closing  months  of  the  siege  of  Port  Arthur, 
and  we  had  a  long  wait  at  the  station  before  the  train  came 
in  sight  round  a  bend  in  the  line. 

Meanwhile,  several  trains  full  of  refugees  passed  through 
on  their  way  to  Constantinople.  Never  have  I  seen  more 
strange  sights.  So  crowded  were  these  trains  with  Mahom- 
medans  fleeing  from  the  Bulgarian  invasion,  that  men, 
women,  and  children  preferred  to  sit  on  the  bare  roofs  of  the 
carriages,  desperately  clinging  to  one  another  to  save 
themselves  from  falling  off,  rather  than  risk  being  left 
behind.  Many  had  been  without  food  for  days,  and  there 
was  none  to  be  obtained  at  Chorion,  an  alarming  fact,  which 
did  not  augur  well  for  the  troops  in  the  field.  Ismet  and 
myself  managed  to  procure  a  loaf,  which  we  shared  with 
several  officers  also  waiting  to  leave  for  Lule  Burgas,  but  tea 
and  coffee  were  quite  unobtainable. 

When  the  train  did  at  length  arrive,  it  did  not  contain 
Nazim,  but  Zia  Pasha,  his  Chief  of  Staff,  who  had  come  to 
Chorion  to  have  an  interview  with  Abdullah  Pasha.  At 
the  station  to  greet  him  was  a  common  soldier  in  a  dirty 
war-worn  khaki  uniform,  whom  Zia  Pasha  shook  warmly  by 
the  hand.  Ismet  said  to  me,  "  Do  you  see  that  man  ?  He 
is  Telad,  the  late  Minister  of  the  Interior,  who  is  serving  as 
a  volunteer." 

I  regarded  this  patriot  with  amazement,  and  wondered  if 
one  of  our  ministers  would  have  acted  likewise.  Telad  was 
one  of  the  most  prominent  men  in  the  revolution,  and  used 
to  pass  his  time  at  Salonika,  where  he  was  a  telegraph  clerk, 
tapping  the  wire  and  reading  Abdul  Hamid's  plans  for  the 
destruction  of  the  Young  Turks.     When  the  present  war 


WE  REACH  LULE  BURGAS      135 

broke  out  he  paid  his  forty  pounds  exemption  fee,  and  then 
volunteered  as  a  private  soldier. 

It  was  twelve  noon  before  the  train  left  Chorion  for  Lule 
Burgas,  and  it  was  one  of  the  very  last  which  made  the 
journey  during  the  war,  for  on  the  following  day  the  station 
of  Lule  Burgas  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Bulgarians.  The 
journey  up  was  uneventful.  We  saw  from  the  window 
crowds  of  refugees  slowly  making  their  way  towards 
Chorion,  and  we  also  passed  the  remains  of  a  train  which 
had  left  the  metals  and  had  been  overturned  at  Seidler,  but 
except  for  these  incidents  there  was  little  or  nothing  to  show 
that  a  great  battle  was  imminent.  As  we  neared  Lule 
Burgas,  we  thought  we  heard  the  sound  of  a  distant 
cannonade,  and  later  in  the  afternoon  we  learnt  we  had  not 
been   mistaken. 

It  was  3  p.m.  when  we  reached  Lule  Burgas  station, 
which  is  some  six  kilometres  from  the  town.  It  was 
crammed  with  soldiers,  transport,  and  refugees.  Zia  Pasha, 
Chief  of  Staff  to  Nazim,  left  the  train  and,  accompanied 
by  two  staff  officers,  entered  a  broken-down  cart  and 
drove  towards  the  town.  He  persistently  refused  to  take 
any  notice  of  Ismet  and  myself,  and  it  was  obvious  that  his 
attitude  was  not  friendly  towards  Europeans.  We  went  to 
the  officer  in  command  at  the  station,  and  asked  him  if  he 
could  provide  us  with  a  carriage  to  enable  us  to  reach  the 
town  of  Lule  Burgas.  Just  before  we  left  Chorion, 
Abdullah  gave  Ismet  and  myself  a  pass  written  in  his  own 
handwriting,  requesting  all  and  sundry  to  assist  us  in  any 
way  in  their  power.  This  proved  an  invaluable  document 
on  several  occasions,  and  the  officer  soon  found  us  an  old 
victoria  drawn  by  two  broken-down  horses,  which  speedily 
carried  us  to  Lule  Burgas.  It  was  somewhat  ominous  that 
at  the  station,  in  reply  to  our  inquiries,  no  one  seemed  to 
have   heard  of  the  correspondents,  and  the  station-master 


136  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

most  emphatically  declared  they  had  not  come  by  train. 
However,  we  thought  they  had  probably  ridden  up  from 
Chorion. 

Ismet  and  myself  were  now  in  excellent  spirits  at  the 
prospect  of  shortly  seeing  our  friends,  our  horses  fed,  and 
our  camp,  but  the  sound  which  cheered  us  up  the  most  was 
that  of  cannon,  which  we  could  hear  rumbling  away  in 
the  north,  showing  that  an  engagement  was  already  in 
progress. 

On  reaching  Lule  Burgas,  a  small  town  situated  in  a 
valley  surrounded  by  a  low  range  of  hills,  we  inquired  for 
the  camp  of  the  correspondents,  but,  to  our  amazement, 
could  find  no  trace  of  them.  We  repaired  to  the  town  hall 
and  were  heartily  greeted  by  the  colonel  in  command 
whose  name,  I  believe,  was  Fouad  Bey.  He  said,  "  No 
correspondents  are  here.  Abdullah  must  have  made  a 
mistake.  They  have  never  come."  Ismet  and  I  looked 
at  one  another  in  amazement  and  felt  depressed,  as  we  had 
had  nothing  to  eat  all  day  and  had  no  shelter  for  the  night. 
Colonel  Fouad  then  said  : 

"  I  suppose  you  want  to  see  the  fighting.  Well,  you  can 
go  and  see  it.  Follow  the  sound  of  the  guns.  They 
commenced  at  three  o'clock  and  seem  to  be  coming  nearer 
every  minute." 

We  explained  our  difficulty  to  the  colonel,  as  we  had  no 
horses,  no  food,  and  no  tents.  He  said,  "  There  are  no 
horses  to  be  had  in  the  town,  as  all  have  been  seized  by  the 
troops  who  passed  through  here  yesterday,  but  I  will  do  my 
best  to  find  you  some  by  the  morning.  In  any  case,  it  is  not 
worth  your  while  going  out  to-night,  as  there  are  only  two 
hours'  more  daylight,  and  the  fighting  will  be  over  before 
you  get  there." 

The  mayor  of  the  town  then  came  to  our  aid  and  said, 
"  I  will  arrange  for  you  to  pass  the  night  in  a  local  inn  (or 


THE   LOCAL   HAN  137 

han,  as   they  are  called  in  Roumelia),  and  afterwards  the 
proprietor  will  also  find  you  some  food." 

The  news  that  the  correspondents  were  not  in  Lule  Burgas 
and  were  not  even  expected  there  caused  Ismet  and  myself 
furiously  to  think.  It  was  obvious  from  the  sound  of  the 
guns,  which  kept  on  booming  until  nightfall,  that  they  could 
not  be  nearer  to  the  probable  scene  of  hostilities  than  our- 
selves, and  we  could  at  least  congratulate  ourselves  on  being 
well  placed  for  the  ensuing  battle. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  were  without  any  tents,  without 
any  equipment,  or  even  a  change  of  clothes,  but,  what  was 
worst  of  all,  we  had  no  horses.  We  also  had  no  food, 
but  expected  to  be  able  to  live  on  the  country  for  a  day 
or  two.  But  the  absence  of  our  horses  worried  us  most ; 
for  without  them  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to  follow 
the  various  phases  of  the  battle.  I  told  Ismet  we  must 
obtain  horses  at  any  price,  and  gave  him  carte  blanche  to 
buy  any  that  he  could  discover  in  the  town,  together  with 
two  saddles.  I  had  plenty  of  money,  having  more  than 
two  hundred  pounds  in  gold  strapped  round  my  waist. 
We  decided  that,  with  or  without  horses,  we  would  make  no 
further  effort  to  find  our  missing  colleagues  until  after  the 
battle.  In  fact,  I  would  have  made  no  effort  to  find  them 
at  all,  except  for  the  fact  that  I  was  anxious  for  my  brother 
to  rejoin  me,  and  above  all  to  obtain  my  horses,  my  camp 
equipment,  and  my  supplies. 

We  accompanied  the  proprietor  of  the  han  to  his  hostelry. 
It  had  been  closed  up,  as  the  majority  of  the  Turkish 
inhabitants  had  fled  from  Burgas  some  days  before,  and 
were  now  well  on  their  way  to  Stamboul.  Ranged  round 
a  very  dirty  deserted  courtyard  were  several  small  rooms, 
each  containing  a  still  dirtier  bed  covered  by  a  thick  quilt. 
The  proprietor  did  his  utmost  to  make  us  comfortable.  He 
managed  to  secure  a  chicken  and  some  eggs,  a  loaf  of  bread. 


138  WITH   THE  TURKS   IN   THRACE 

and  three  bottles  of  local  wine  which,  on  an  ordinary 
occasion,  would  not  have  commanded  our  favour,  but  which 
seemed  delicious  in  our  exhausted  and  semi-starving 
condition. 

The  cooking,  however,  was  not  equal  to  the  materials. 
The  eggs  were  ruined  through  being  fried  in  some  rancid  oil, 
and  the  chicken  was  likewise  spoiled  to  the  European  palate. 
However,  this  mattered  but  little.  We  made  a  substantial 
meal  and  retired  to  rest,  having  secured  some  extra  coverings 
from  the  spare  beds  as  the  night  was  bitterly  cold. 


CHAPTER    XI 

LULE     BURGAS THE     FIRST    DAY 

We  passed  a  fairly  comfortable  night,  and  were  astir  at 
dawn,  aroused  by  the  cannon,  which  again  commenced  to 
boom  from  the  north-east  far  more  vigorously  than  on  the 
previous  day.  We  hastened  to  the  town  hall  to  inquire  if 
the  colonel  had  succeeded  in  finding  us  horses ;  but  he  had 
not,  and  sent  us  on  to  the  commander  of  the  independent 
cavalry  division,  Sali  Pasha,  who  was  quartered  in  the  town. 
We  found  the  general  in  a  local  wine  shop  with  his  staff, 
snatching  some  refreshment.  All  the  officers  were  most 
agreeable,  but  explained  that  for  days  they  had  not  seen  their 
baggage  or  spare  horses,  and  therefore  could  not  procure  us 
a  mount. 

We  were  in  despair,  and  I  was  suffering  greatly  from  sore 
feet,  as  my  field  boots  had  been  soaked  for  three  days  and 
had  become  frozen  to  my  feet.  Ismet  suggested  that  I 
should  try  to  buy  a  new  pair  in  the  town  in  case  we  had  to 
walk,  and  I  managed  to  procure  a  strange  outfit  from  a 
local  Jew  for  a  very  high  price,  and  also  a  pair  of  puttees. 
Thus  I  could  manage  to  walk  with  difficulty. 

Once  more  we  returned  to  the  town  hall,  where  we 
found  the  colonel  and  the  mayor  in  a  great  state  of  excite- 
ment. The  colonel  said,  "  You  are  just  in  time.  I  have 
received  news  that  a  large  force  of  Bulgarians  is  advancing 
from  the  north-east,  and  we  have  only  one  battalion  of 
infantry  with  which  to  defend  the  position.  If  you  want  to 
see  the  fight  come  along  with  me."  The  mayor  at  the  same 
time  came  up  and  said,  "  I  have  found  two  horses,  but  only 


140  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

one  saddle."  Ismet  and  I  examined  these  animals.  Both 
were  old  and  almost  past  work,  but  we  decided  to  take  the 
one  with  the  saddle,  and  ride  and  walk  alternately. 

Meanwhile  the  colonel  had  disappeared,  so  we  followed 
two  squadrons  of  cavalry,  which  were  hastily  leaving  the 
town  and  making  for  the  hills  half  a  mile  away,  from  which 
the  sound  of  violent  musketry  fire  was  just  breaking  out. 
We  had  only  gone  a  short  distance  when  the  enemy's  shells 
began  to  burst  amongst  the  infantry  on  the  ridge.  The 
volleys  became  heavier ;  the  great  battle  had  begun.  I 
glanced  at  my  watch.     It  was  exactly  eleven  o'clock. 

As  we  advanced  to  the  ridge  a  crowd  of  wounded  men 
began  to  trickle  away  from  the  firing  line  towards  the  town, 
and  also  a  great  many  stragglers  who  were  not  wounded. 
An  officer  stopped  and  spoke  to  us. 

"  Do  not  go  on  any  further.  It  is  awful  up  there.  The 
enemy  are  in  tremendous  force.  I  have  already  been 
wounded,  and  we  cannot  hold  the  position." 

Ismet  and  I  soon  learned  the  truth  of  his  words  from  the 
bullets  which  began  to  fly  around  us  in  ever-increasing 
numbers,  and,  not  wishing  to  become  mixed  up  in  the 
conflict,  we  moved  more  to  the  left  to  join  the  cavalry,  who 
had  dismounted  and  were  taking  up  a  position  on  a  hill, 
evidently  with  the  intention  of  checking  the  enemy's 
advance  towards  the  railway  station,  as  it  was  obviously 
their  intention  to  try  to  cut  the  line. 

Suddenly  the  Turkish  infantry  broke,  and  made  for  the 
shelter  of  the  town,  running  in  complete  disorder  in  small 
groups.  Ismet  and  I  were  swept  away  in  the  general. 
sauve  qui  pent,  and  beating  our  wretched  horse  to  make 
him  move  more  quickly,  were  soon  across  the  bridge  and 
under  the  shelter  of  the  houses. 

Here  we  found  a  half-battalion  of  infantry  strongly 
entrenched,  and  evidently  determined  to  defend  the  town 
to  the  end.      Their  attitude  was  splendid.      They  were 


"THERE   ARE   THE   BULGARIANS!"       141 

in  no  way  demoralised  by  the  sudden  abandonment  of  the 
hills,  and  each  man,  as  he  lay  behind  an  entrenchment  or 
stone  wall,  seemed  determined  to  hold  his  ground  or  die. 

The  refugees  from  the  hills  soon  recovered  from  their 
temporary  panic  and  joined  their  comrades  in  the  town. 
The  wounded  from  the  hills  began  slowly  to  trickle  in, 
most  of  them  making  their  way  on  foot,  as  there  were 
no  ambulances,  as  far  as  I  could  see,  anywhere. 

At  this  moment  Sali  Pasha  and  his  cavalry  dashed 
through  the  opening  in  the  ranks  of  the  infantry  and 
hastened  to  join  the  remainder  of  his  dismounted  cavalry, 
who  were  already  engaged  with  the  enemy.  At  11.30  masses 
of  dark-clothed  figures  began  to  appear  among  the  trees 
on  the  low  ridge  of  hills  lately  evacuated  by  the  Turks. 
A  great  shout  went  up :  "  There  are  the  Bulgarians  I  " 

For  a  few  minutes  the  enemy  withdrew  from  sight,  and 
then  reappeared  in  the  form  of  a  strong  firing  line,  steadily 
advancing.  The  Turkish  soldiers  around  me  commenced 
to  ply  them  with  long-ranged  fire,  which  did  not  check 
the  advance  for  a  moment.  A  staff  officer  dashed  up 
shouting :  "  Everyone  must  clear  out  of  the  town  and  make 
for  the  higher  ground  behind,  where  you  will  find  our 
infantry  entrenched.  The  town  cannot  long  be  held.  Only 
the  rear-guard  can  remain." 

Ismet  and  I  then  made  our  way  slowly  to  the  rear,  but 
were  dragged  into  a  vortex  of  men,  women,  children,  carts, 
stray  soldiers,  unarmed  men  and  wounded,  all  hastening  to 
escape  from  the  enemy's  shrapnel,  which  had  commenced  to 
burst  over  the  town  itself.  The  confusion  was  awful.  A 
complete  panic  had  seized  the  flying  mob,  and  every  minute 
we  expected  to  have  the  enemy's  shells  burst  in  our  midst. 

I  had  no  time  to  save  my  boots,  which  later  in  the  day  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Bulgarians.  The  road  outside  the 
town  was  a  mass  of  fleeing  refugees.  A  magazine  of  old  or 
obsolete  arms  and  ammunition  had  been  hastily  burst  open. 


142  WITH  THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

and  all  were  invited  to  help  themselves  to  the  contents. 
The  road  led  up  to  a  high  plateau,  for,  as  I  have  said,  Lule 
Burgas  lies  in  a  valley,  through  which  there  runs  a  shallow 
river,  and  on  the  crest  of  the  plateau  I  saw  long  lines  of 
Turkish  infantry  entrenched,  together  with  two  batteries  of 
artillery  in  position. 

Having  reached  the  crest,  Ismet  and  myself  refused  to 
flee  any  further,  and  stayed  with  the  guns  to  watch  the 
Bulgarian  attack  on  Lule  Burgas,  which  lay  at  our  feet  only 
a  short  mile  away. 

Two  separate  engagements  were  now  taking  place  in  this 
portion  of  the  field,  for  part  of  the  Bulgarian  infantry  had 
right- wheeled,  and  were  making  a  desperate  attack  on  Sali's 
dismounted  cavalry,  who  were  nobly  trying  to  check  the 
advance  on  the  railway  station,  the  capture  of  which  would 
mean  the  cutting  of  the  line  and  the  isolation  of  Adrianople. 
The  fighting  in  this  quarter  was  of  the  fiercest  character,  and 
the  Turkish  cavalry,  only  about  800  strong,  lost  150  men 
before  being  obliged  to  retire. 

But  the  sight  which  interested  me  the  most  was  the 
attack  on  Lule  Burgas.  The  Bulgarians  now  half-surrounded 
the  town,  and  had  advanced  half-way  down  the  hill,  where 
they  lay  firing  at  the  entrenched  battalion  of  Turks  in 
the  town.  The  latter  had  inflicted  very  heavy  losses  on 
the  invaders,  who  were  quite  devoid  of  any  cover.  But 
now  the  Bulgarian  artillery  had  been  brought  up  to  the 
crest  of  the  ridge,  and  commenced  to  shell  the  town  and  the 
Turkish  entrenchments  on  the  higher  ground  where  we 
stood.  Their  fire  was  wonderfully  accurate,  but  the  Turks 
stood  their  ground  well  and  refused  to  leave  the  town. 

For  more  than  two  hours  this  rear-guard  held  out  heroically. 
About  two  o'clock  fresh  masses  of  Bulgarian  infantry 
debouched  from  the  hills  and  rushed  down  into  the  firing 
line,  and  the  whole  line  dashed  forward  with  magnificent 
elan.     The  fire  from  the  Turkish  entrenchments  now  rose 


CAPTURE   OF   LULE   BURGAS 


143 


into  a  sullen  roar.  It  was  independent,  and  as  rapid  as  each 
man  could  load  and  fire.  The  Bulgarians  fell  in  scores,  and 
the  advance  came  to  an  end  only  a  few  hundred  yards 
away  from  the  entrenchments. 

But  the  defence  had  shot  its  last  bolt,  the  ammunition 


Plan  of  the  Battle  op  Lule  Burgas. 

was  exhausted,  and  much  against  its  will  the  heroic  rear- 
guard was  obliged  to  fall  back. 

I  was  much  struck  by  the  failure  of  the  Turkish  artillery 
to  take  advantage  of  the  splendid  target  afforded  by  the 
Bulgarians  as  they  advanced  on  Lule  Burgas.  When  we 
asked  the  commander  of  the  battery  why  he  did  not  fire,  he 
said,  "I  am  not  sure  if  they  are  Bulgarians  or  our  own 
people,  and  I  have  received  no  orders  to  fire  in  any  case." 


144  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

Finally  he  did  condescend  to  drop  a  few  shells  at  them,  but 
these  were  badly  aimed  and  fell  short. 

On  the  retirement  of  the  Turkish  rear-guard  the  Bulgarians 
entered  Lule  Burgas  and  hoisted  a  flag  on  the  mosque,  but 
for  some  time  they  only  managed  to  maintain  possession  of 
one-half  of  the  town,  on  account  of  the  Turkish  shell  fire 
which  was  now  concentrated  on  them. 

Hitherto  1  have  only  attempted  to  describe  what  was 
taking  place  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  Turkish  line  and 
extreme  right  of  the  Bulgarian,  but  once  Lule  Burgas  was 
taken  I  was  able  to  look  round,  and  I  will  now  attempt  to 
give  an  account  of  what  was  going  on  in  other  directions 
stretching  nearly  twenty  miles  to  the  north-east. 

The  ground,  over  which  six  army  corps  were  contending, 
is  a  vast  undulating  plain,  with  shallow  valleys,  in  which  are 
half-buried,  scattered  villages,  which  naturally  played  a  very 
important  part  in  both  the  attack  and  the  defence.  So  open 
is  the  ground,  that  from  the  higher  ridges  it  was  possible  to 
follow  the  movements  of  all  three  Turkish  Army  Corps 
although,  naturally,  those  individual  incidents  which  make 
war  so  fascinating  could  only  be  followed  close  at  hand. 

On  this  day's  fighting,  namely,  Tuesday,  October  29th, 
the  Turks  had  three  Army  Corps  engaged  ;  the  fourth,  under 
Abouk  Pasha,  was  in  and  around  Lule  Burgas.  From  this 
point  the  line  stretched  north-east  to  the  village  of  Turk 
Bey,  where  the  ground  was  held  by  the  1st  Army  Corps, 
under  Yavir  Pasha,  and  from  here  was  carried  on  to  the 
village  of  Bunar-Hissar  by  the  2nd  Corps,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Shefket  Torgut  Pasha.  The  extreme  right  of 
the  line  was  at  Viza,  where  was  stationed  the  Third  Corps 
under  Mahmoud  Muhktar. 

Along  the  whole  of  this  front  the  battle  raged  furiously 
throughout  Tuesday,  October  29th.  All  along  the  line 
the  Bulgarians  were  on  the  offensive,  and,  to  gauge  from 
the  severity  of   the  artillery  fire,  their  evident  object  was 


A   COUNTER    ATTACK  145 

to  break  through  between  the  right  of  the  1st  Corps  and 
the  left  of  the  2nd  Corps,  between  Turk  Bey  and  Karagach. 

It  is  utterly  impossible  for  me  or  any  single  eye-witness 
to  describe  the  whole  of  this  great  conflict  in  detail.  It 
will  be  months  before  the  reports  of  all  the  commanders 
are  collected  and  collated  and  the  whole  story  rendered 
intelligible  to  the  military  reader.  I  can  only  put  on  paper 
that  which  I  saw  with  my  own  eyes. 

The  whole  of  the  battle  front  for  twenty  miles  was  clearly 
shown  by  the  masses  of  bursting  shrapnel  shells.  Never 
before  have  I  seen  such  an  artillery  fire.  For  every  battery 
the  Turks  seemed  to  have  in  action,  the  Bulgarians  were 
able  to  produce  half  a  dozen,  and,  whereas  the  Turkish 
fire  was  desultory  and  generally  ill-directed,  the  Bulgarian 
shells  burst  in  a  never-ceasing  storm  on  the  Turkish 
positions  with  a  maximum  of  effect.  In  fact,  the  enemy 
seemed  to  have  so  little  respect  for  the  Turkish  batteries 
that  they  seldom  directed  their  fire  against  them,  but 
concentrated  it  on  the  infantry,  who  suffered  enormous 
losses,  and  became  sadly  demoralised. 

There  seemed  to  be  no  escaping  from  these  Bulgarian 
shells.  Ismet  and  myself  were  kept  continually  on  the 
move,  for,  whenever  we  took  up  a  position  from  which 
to  watch  the  fight,  we  were  sure  to  be  driven  from  it  by 
the  enemy's  fire,  and  what  rendered  the  plight  of  ourselves 
and  of  the  Turkish  troops  all  the  worse,  was  the  impossibility 
of  obtaining  any  cover  on  this  bare  plateau  of  grassy  land 
or  ploughed  fields. 

After  the  taking  of  Lule  Burgas,  the  Bulgarian  advance 
against  the  left  flank  of  the  Turkish  line  was  checked  for 
the  remainder  of  the  day  by  the  artillery,  and  towards 
evening,  an  hour  before  darkness  set  in,  Abouk  Pasha,  the 
commander  of  the  4th  Corps,  decided  to  deliver  a  counter- 
attack on  the  town  mth  one  of  his  divisions  advancing  from 
the  high  ground  into  the  valley.      This  attack  was  well- 

L 


146  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

directed,  and  seemed  to  meet  with  success.  1  was  talking 
to  the  commander  of  the  12th  Division,  which  made  this 
attack,  and  he  was  highly  pleased  with  its  success. 

"  The  enemy,"  he  said,  "  seems  to  be  retiring,  and  is  only 
offering  a  feeble  resistance  with  his  artillery  and  mitrailleuses." 

I  saw  a  portion  of  the  Bulgarian  infantry  all  run  away 
back  towards  the  hills,  but  the  Turkish  counter-attack, 
which  seemed  to  offer  hopes  of  great  things,  came  to  an 
abrupt  stop  with  the  fall  of  night.  For  two  hours,  between 
four  and  six,  the  fighting  on  the  extreme  right  of  the 
Turkish  line  became  furious.  The  artillery  fire  on  both  sides 
swelled  into  a  crescendo,  and  the  rifle  fire  was  so  incessant 
that  it  seemed  to  come  from  one  huge  machine.  We  could 
see  the  smoke  moving  slowly  forward  on  the  right,  which 
meant  that  the  2nd  Army  Corps  was  not  only  holding  its 
own,  but  was  actually  advancing,  and  all  the  officers  with 
whom  I  spoke  were  confident  that  the  day  was  going  well 
for  the  Imperial  army. 

But  just  before  dusk  the  Bulgarians  made  a  supreme  effort 
against  the  2nd  Army  Corps,  and  not  only  stopped  its 
advance,  but  actually  pushed  it  back,  recovering  some  of 
their  lost  ground. 

Now  for  the  first  time  the  unpleasantness  of  our  own 
position  dawned  upon  Ismet  and  myself.  Throughout  the 
day  we  had  been  too  busy  watching  the  fighting  and  moving 
from  point  to  point  to  avoid  the  shrapnel  shells  to  trouble 
about  our  future.  But  directly  the  night  fell,  we  were  most 
unpleasantly  reminded,  by  cold  and  the  pangs  of  hunger, 
that  we  had  nowhere  to  spend  the  night  and  were  without 
food.  We  might  have  taken  some  from  Lule  Burgas,  but 
the  capture  of  the  town  came  so  suddenly  and  unexpectedly 
that  we  left  without  anything. 

In  the  early  morning  I  picked  up  and  placed  in  the 
pocket  of  my  overcoat  half  a  loaf  of  bread,  but  on  entering 
the  han  to  speak  with  Sali  Pasha,  I  placed  it  for  a  moment 


ABOUK   PASHA  147 

on  the  table,  and  it  must  have  been  immediately  snatched 
up  by  some  hungry  soldier,  for  I  never  saw  it  again.  Fortu- 
nately, on  the  previous  evening  Ismet  had  taken  the  pre- 
caution to  fill  his  water  bottle  with  the  one  remaining  bottle 
of  wine,  but  by  the  evening  this  had  been  entirely  consumed. 

A  feeling  of  complete  desertion  settled  over  us  both.  We 
felt  we  had  not  got  a  friend  in  the  world  and  were  entirely 
dependent  on  our  own  exertions.  Fortunately,  at  this 
moment  Ismet  met  a  staff  officer  with  whom  he  was 
acquainted,  and  who  said  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  head- 
quarters of  Abouk  Pasha,  the  Commander  of  the  4th  Army 
Corps,  and  advised  us  to  come  along  with  him. 

Abouk,  who  is  a  very  big  thick-set  man,  received  us  in 
the  most  friendly  manner,  but  he  seemed  somewhat 
depressed  over  the  result  of  the  day's  operations.  When  he 
heard  of  our  plight,  he  said : 

"  I  would  like  to  give  you  food  and  shelter,  but  I  am  no 
better  ofF  myself,  as  I  have  nowhere  to  go,  and  I  shall  have 
to  spend  the  night  riding  around  with  my  escort.  Last 
night  was  bitterly  cold,  and  I  think  to-night  will  be  just  as 
bad.  I  do  not  advise  you  to  remain  out  in  the  open,  and 
therefore  I  think  the  wisest  course  would  be  for  you  to 
make  for  the  headquarters  of  Abdullah  Pasha,  the 
Commander-in-Chief,  which  are  at  the  village  of  Sakiskeuy, 
about  ten  kilometres  north  of  here.  I  will  give  you  two 
soldiers  from  my  escort,  who  know  the  road,  and  who  will 
conduct  you  there." 

Abouk  Pasha  then  went  on  to  talk  of  war,  which  he 
described  as  a  miserable  game,  only  fit  for  barbarians,  and 
having  nothing  glorious  about  it. 

Having  thanked  the  general,  Ismet  and  myself  set  off  in 
the  darkness  towards  Sakiskeuy.  The  spectacle  now  was 
extremely  majestic.  The  firing  had  almost  entirely  died 
down,  and  only  an  occasional  cannon  shot,  or  the  distant 
crackle  of  musketry  reminded  one  that  200,000  combatants 

l2 


148  WITH   THE  TURKS   IN   THRACE 

lay  ready  to  fly  at  each  other's  throats  directly  dawn  should 
appear.  The  whole  of  the  horizon  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach  was  lit  up  by  a  chain  of  burning  villages  and  hamlets, 
for  the  Bulgarians  set  every  village  they  took  on  fire,  and 
the  Turkish  soldiers,  careless  after  the  fatigues  of  the  day, 
often  involuntarily  brought  similar  disaster  to  the  homes  of 
their  unfortunate  countrymen.  These  fires  led  many  of  the 
Turkish  generals  to  believe  that  the  Bulgarians  were  retiring, 
and  that  dawn  would  find  the  positions  in  front  of  them 
evacuated. 

Our  course  to  Sakiskeuy  led  us  in  the  rear  of  the  hnes  of 
the  4th  and  the  1st  Army  Corps.  We  passed  innumerable 
stragglers  searching  for  their  regiments,  ammunition  trains 
lost  in  the  darkness,  deserters  from  the  fighting  line  who  had 
had  enough  of  war,  and  hundreds  of  wounded  men,  looking 
either  for  shelter  or  for  field  dressing  stations.  For  these  latter 
they  looked  in  vain,  for  they  seemed  almost  non-existent. 

The  plight  of  the  wounded  was  awful.  So  inadequate 
was  the  Turkish  medical  service,  that  the  wounded  could 
hardly  secure  first  aid.  There  were  no  mounted  ambulances, 
and  hardly  any  stretchers.  Thus  every  wounded  man  who 
could  possibly  walk  had  to  make  his  own  way  to  the  rear, 
and  the  serious  cases  were  either  left  to  perish  miserably  on 
the  ground,  or  were  carried,  to  meet  a  similar  fate,  into  the 
nearest  village,  where  they  were  abandoned,  as  there  was  no 
possible  way  of  carrying  them  off  when  the  army  was  in 
full  retreat. 

Hundreds  of  wounded  stopped  us  on  our  way  to  Sakiskeuy, 
and  asked  us  if  we  could  tell  them  where  they  could  find  the 
ambulances  or  the  hospitals.     Alas  !  neither  existed. 

We  reached  the  village  at  9  o'clock  and  found  it  full 
of  exhausted  troops  and  wounded  men,  who  had  taken 
possession  of  every  house.  The  village  had  been  formerly  a 
prosperous  one,  and  contained  considerable  stores  of  grain 


A   TALK   WITH   ABDULLAH  149 

and  straw,  but  absolutely  no  food.  The  men,  many  of 
whom  had  eaten  nothing  for  two  days,  were  eating  raw 
mealie  cobs,  or  else  grinding  them  to  flour  and  making  a 
coarse,  almost  uneatable  bread,  which  at  least  was  better  than 
nothing. 

We  found  Abdullah  and  his  staff  installed  in  a  miserable 
little  four-roomed  hut,  crowded  together  like  flies.  The 
general  was  very  much  surprised  to  see  us,  but  greeted  us 
with  his  usual  kindliness,  and  said  we  might  stay  with  his 
staff  for  the  night.  Ismet  and  myself  were  glad  of  shelter,  as 
we  were  thoroughly  exhausted  after  our  long  wearying  day 
without  a  particle  of  food,  and  nothing  to  drink  except  one 
bottle  of  local  wine,  which  we  had  saved  from  Lule  Burgas. 

But  the  General  Staff  of  the  army  were  in  almost  as  bad 
a  plight.  They  had  come  from  Chorion  at  a  moment's 
notice,  leaving  all  their  baggage  behind  and  were  almost 
without  food.  The  staff  officers  and  ourselves  dined  off  one 
plate  of  pilaf  and  two  loaves  of  stale  bread  of  the  worst 
quality,  and  of  such  a  taste  that  one  felt  after  each  mouthful 
that  one  had  robbed  the  museum  at  Pompeii. 

However,  we  made  the  best  of  it,  and  were  all  very 
cheerful,  for  the  day's  operations  seemed  to  have  taken  a 
favourable  turn  and  the  general  impression  at  headquarters 
was  that  on  the  following  morning  the  Bulgarians  would  be 
found  in  full  retreat. 

After  dinner  Abdullah  came  in  and  talked  to  me  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  and  gave  me  a  splendid  cigar,  which, 
in  the  circumstances,  was  about  the  greatest  luxury 
anyone  could  have  provided.  He  inquired  carefully  of 
what  I  had  seen  during  the  day,  and  seemed  greatly 
surprised  when  I  told  him  that  Lule  Burgas  had  been  taken, 
a  piece  of  information  which  had  hitherto  not  reached  him. 
He  then  pointed  out  to  me  on  the  map  the  various  positions 
of  his  army  corps,  and  told  me  several  details  of  the  fighting 
of  which  I  was  hitherto  ignorant.     He  laid  special  stress  on 


150  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

the  success  of  the  2nd  Corps,  which  for  some  time  had 
carried  all  before  it,  and  had  only  been  checked  by  the 
desperate  counter-attack  of  the  Bulgarians  just  before  dusk. 
The  general  said,  "  The  Slavs  always  make  their  final  effort 
before  dusk.     It  is  the  hour  they  like  best  for  fighting." 

Then  he  went  on  to  explain  his  plans  for  the  following 
day,  and  used  these  memorable  words  : 

"  Mahmoud  Mukhtar  with  the  3rd  Army  Corps  is  coming 
up  from  Viza  to-morrow.  I  shall  be  able  to  throw  him  on 
the  enemy's  left  wing,  and  I  trust  this  movement  will  lead 
to  good  results  and  force  the  Bulgarians  to  retire." 

At  the  same  time,  Abdullah  told  me  he  had  another 
Army  Corps  in  reserve,  the  17th,  which  was  coming  up  from 
Tatarli,  and  that  he  would  reinforce  the  2nd  Corps  with 
it   on  the  following  morning. 

Now  what  became  of  this  mysterious  17th  Corps  which 
does  not  apparently  exist  in  the  Turkish  organisation  ?  Did 
Abdullah  mean  the  17th  Division  of  Redifs  ?  Whether 
it  was  a  Division  or  a  Provisional  Army  Corps,  it  never 
came  to  the  assistance  of  the  2nd  Army  Corps  on  the 
following  day,  Wednesday,  October  30th,  and  its  movements 
have  remained  a  profound  mystery  ever  since.  I  was  under 
the  impression  that  it  never  reached  the  battlefield,  but 
broke  up  and  dispersed  en  route.  I  have,  however,  since 
heard  from  a  reliable  officer  that  this  mysterious  division 
or  corps,  instead  of  reinforcing  the  2nd  Army  Corps,  joined 
the  3rd  Corps  under  Mahmoud  Mukhtar  and  was  involved 
in  his  fight  and  subsequent  retreat. 

That  night  I  listened  to  many  strange  tales  of  the 
fighting,  brought  in  by  aides-de-camp  from  all  quarters  of 
the  field.  Most  of  these  officers  were  highly  optimistic, 
and  prophesied  a  great  victory  on  the  following  day,  but 
there  was  one  whose  name  I  cannot  recall  who  said  to  me : 

"  Things  are  not  going  well.  Up  to  a  certain  hour  the 
2nd  Army  Corps  was   making   considerable   progress,  but 


A  COMFORTLESS   BIVOUAC  151 

the  final  Bulgarian  attack  drove  it  back.  To-night  there 
is  tremendous  concentration  of  the  enemy  in  front  of  the 
2nd  Army  Corps,  and  to-morrow  we  shall  see  the  bloodiest 
fight  of  the  battle  there." 

All  the  Turkish  officers  were  loud  in  their  praises  of  the 
bravery  of  the  Bulgarian  troops.  They  described  how,  when 
determined  to  gain  a  position,  they  came  on  regardless  of 
their  losses.  Their  bodies  were  literally  piled  up  in  heaps 
after  the  fight  in  front  of  the  2nd  Corps. 

Having  bid  good-night  to  Abdullah  and  having 
wished  him  every  success  on  the  morrow,  the  junior 
officers  of  the  staff*,  Ismet  and  myself  proceeded  to  make 
ourselves  as  comfortable  as  we  could  for  the  night.  We 
dispersed  through  the  village,  stole  all  the  straw  we 
could  find  and  piled  it  up  in  the  little  room  where  we 
were  to  pass  the  night.  It  was  not  more  than  twelve  feet 
square,  and  there  were  some  sixteen  of  us  to  sleep  there,  as 
many  staff"  officers,  having  come  in  with  reports  from  other 
corps,  were  to  remain  at  headquarters  until  the  morning,  and 
then  to  carry  back  fresh  orders. 

I  remember  that  evening,  in  spite  of  our  hunger;  our 
anxieties  and  the  general  uncertainty  of  our  position,  we 
were  all  very  cheerful  and  sat  up  for  a  long  time  telling 
stories  and  listening  to  each  one's  experiences  during  the 
day.  One  officer  who  had  come  in  from  Sali's  Cavalry 
Division  was  better  supplied  than  his  comrades,  and  gave 
me  a  stick  of  chocolate,  which  helped  to  stave  off*  the  pangs 
of  hunger  just  a  little  longer.  Hardly  any  of  us  had  any 
blankets  and  I  was  continually  awakened  during  the  night 
by  the  bitter  cold,  and  I  do  not  think  any  of  us  really  slept 
except  for  half  an  hour  at  a  time.  However,  the  feeling  of 
excitement  and  the  prospects  of  further  dramatic  develop- 
ments on  the  following  day  kept  up  our  spirits  and  caused 
us  to  bear  the  cold  and  the  ever-growing  feehng  of  star- 
vation without  complaint. 


CHAPTER    XII 

LULE    BURGAS THE    SECOND    DAY 

I  WILL  now  describe  the  second  day  of  this  disastrous 
battle,  which  has  settled  the  fate  of  Turkey  in  Europe. 

At  dawn  on  Wednesday,  October  30th,  Abdullah  Pasha 
and  his  staff  were  early  astir.  It  was  bitterly  cold,  but 
fortunately  the  weather  remained  fine  and  clear.  All  of  us 
had  passed  a  miserable,  sleepless  night,  lying  amidst  the 
straw  hastily  collected  on  the  previous  evening.  Neither  the 
general  nor  anyone  else  had  a  scrap  of  breakfast  or  even  a 
cup  of  tea,  for  not  a  morsel  of  food  remained  in  the  village 
of  Sakiskeuy. 

If  this  was  the  lot  of  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army, 
imagine  that  of  his  troops.  For  .three  days  the  majority  of 
the  men  had  had  absolutely  nothing  to  eat,  and  very  many 
of  them  but  little  to  drink,  as  water  in  many  parts  of  the 
field  was  scarce,  and  often  whole  regiments  had  to  fill  their 
bottles  from  muddy  ponds,  in  which  horses  and  oxen  had 
trampled  and  stirred  up  the  sediment.  For  three  days  the 
troops  had  lain  out  on  the  bare  hills  in  the  icy  cold  with  no 
covering  except  their  coats.  The  majority  of  the  wounded 
lay  exactly  where  they  had  fallen  on  the  previous  day,  and 
only  the  minor  cases  had  been  able  to  drag  themselves  to  the 
rear.  But  as  there  were  no  hospitals  or  field  dressing 
stations,  the  wounded  had  to  make  their  own  way  for  fully 


THE   DAWN   OF   OCTOBER   30  153 

forty  miles  to  Chorlou,  before  they  could  hope  to  find  any 
succour.  A  few  may  have  eventually  reached  shelter, 
thanks  to  the  wonderful  constitution  of  the  Turkish  soldier, 
but  the  majority  must  have  succumbed  en  route. 

If  ever  an  army  was  not  in  a  position  to  renew  a  battle, 
it  was  the  Turkish  army  on  the  morning  of  Wednesday, 
October  30th.  Without  food,  without  ammunition  for 
the  artillery,  without  supports  for  the  firing-line,  it  was 
obvious  that  nothing  could  stave  off  the  disaster  unless 
Mahmoud  Mukhtar  and  the  3rd  Corps  could  make  a 
diversion  on  the  enemy's  left  flank,  or  unless  the  Bulgarian 
offensive  had  spent  its  force,  and  they,  too,  were  in  as  equally 
bad  plight  as  the  Turks. 

Reports  which  had  come  in  at  dawn  from  Shefket  Torgut 
Pasha,  the  commander  of  the  2nd  Corps,  showed  that  a  great 
concentration  of  the  enemy  was  taking  place  in  front  of  his 
army  corps  between  Turk  Bey  and  Karagach.  And  to  meet 
this  fresh  concentration  Abdullah  had  not  a  single  fresh 
battalion  to  throw  into  the  firing  line.  Only  one  thing  could 
save  the  day,  namely,  for  the  2nd  Corps  to  hold  its  own  until 
Mahmoud  Mukhtar  and  the  3rd  Corps  could  come  up. 

I  had  a  few  words  with  Abdullah  at  dawn.  He  was  calm, 
but  it  was  easy  to  see  that  inwardly  he  was  beset  with 
anxiety.  He  asked  me  what  I  was  going  to  do.  I  replied  : 
"  I  shall  stay  with  you,  with  your  permission,  to  see  the  end 
of  the  battle,  after  which  I  shall  try  to  make  my  way  to 
Chorlou,  where  perhaps  I  shall  find  my  horses."  Abdullah 
replied  :  "  Go  straight  out  in  front  of  the  hills  towards  Turk 
Bey.     There  you  will  see  the  real  struggle." 

The  general  and  his  staff  rode  off.  Ismet  and  myself 
followed  the  road  they  had  taken,  which  led  up  to  the  low 
hills  in  front  of  Sakiskeuy.  On  my  way  I  was  amazed  by  the 
number  of  stragglers  from  the  fighting  line.  Hundreds,  even 
thousands,  of  men,  who  should  have  been  with  their  regi- 


154  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

merits,  were  strolling  about  the  country,  searching  for  food 
and  taking  no  notice  of  the  efforts  of  staff  officers  to  induce 
them  to  return  to  the  front.  Many  were  in  a  pitiful  state, 
so  weak  from  two  days'  fighting  and  three  without  food, 
that  they  could  hardly  drag  themselves  along. 

On  the  low  hills  in  front  of  Sakiskeuy  Abdullah  and  his 
staff  took  up  their  stand  on  an  ancient  mound  about  fifty 
feet  high,  of  which  there  are  many  scattered  over  the  country. 
They  are  said  to  be  tombs  marking  the  burial-places  of  the 
victims  of  former  battles  in  this  dark  and  bloody  land. 
To-day  this  proved  to  be  the  tomb  of  Turkey's  hopes,  for 
from  this  mound  Abdullah  Pasha  watched  the  defeat  and 
destruction  of  his  army. 

Neither  of  the  combatants  seemed  anxious  to  renew  the 
struggle,  and  it  was  nearly  eight  a.m.  before  the  Bulgarian 
artillery  commenced  a  furious  bombardment  all  along  the 
line  from  Lule  Burgas  to  Karagach.  In  spite  of  the 
immense  expenditure  of  ammunition  on  the  previous  day, 
the  enemy  apparently  had  an  unlimited  supply  left,  for  he 
did  not  use  it  sparingly,  but  fired  with  rapidity  and  precision. 

Against  this  storm  of  shells  the  Turkish  artillery  could 
return  but  a  feeble  reply,  for  not  a  scrap  of  fresh  ammunition 
had  been  brought  up  during  the  night,  and  those  batteries 
which  still  possessed  a  few  shells  in  their  caissons  were  loth 
to  use  them  until  the  decisive  moment  had  arrived. 

It  was  a  sad  sight  to  watch  the  long  lines  of  infantry  on 
the  hills,  a  mile  to  our  front,  the  batteries  of  artillery  and 
the  horse  teams  lying  for  hour  after  hour  under  this  storm 
of  shrapnel,  unable  to  reply,  unable  to  advance,  and  un- 
willing to  retire.  Men  and  horses  fell  in  scores,  and  soon 
the  dismal  procession  of  wounded  men,  bleeding  from  feet, 
hands,  faces,  shoulders,  from  anywhere  where  the  hurt  was 
not  vital,  came  dribbling  back  past  us  into  the  village  of 
Sakiskeuy. 


THE   TOMB   OF   TURKEY'S   HOPES        155 

The  hill  on  which  Abdullah  Pasha  had  taken  up  his 
stand  was  about  the  centre  of  the  arc  of  a  semicircle, 
extending  from  the  railway  line  at  I^ule  Burgas  station  to 
Karagach,  in  the  north-east.  It  speedily  became  obvious 
that  the  object  of  the  Bulgarians  was  to  break  or  turn  the 
Turkish  left  flank,  and  if  possible  cut  off  the  retirement  of 
the  army  from  Chorion,  and  at  the  same  time  to  crush 
Abdullah's  centre,  or  at  least,  hold  the  2nd  Army  Corps 
and  prevent  it  from  advancing. 

The  plan  of  Abdullah,  the  only  one  which  offered  the 
smallest  hope  of  success,  was  to  hold  his  left  wing  with 
the  4th  and  1st  Corps,  to  attack  with  his  centre  now  formed 
by  the  2nd  Corps,  and  to  crush  the  enemy's  left  wing  by 
hurling  the  whole  of  the  3rd  Corps  under  Mahmoud 
Mukhtar  on  to  it.  To  gain  time  for  the  3rd  Corps  to  come 
up  from  Viza,  Abdullah  ordered  Shefket  Torgut  Pasha,  the 
commander  of  the  2nd  Corps,  to  attack  the  enemy  with  his 
entire  army  corps,  or  what  was  left  of  it,  united  and  massed 
on  a  small  front. 

The  ground  over  which  the  troops  had  to  advance  to 
the  attack  was  a  plateau  similar  to  those  I  have  already 
described,  only  having  this  difference,  that  it  was  covered 
with  very  small  trees  and  shrubbery,  which  gave  a  certain 
amount  of  concealment,  but  absolutely  no  cover  against 
artillery  fire. 

This  attack  was  supported  by  several  batteries  of  artillery, 
which  were  pushed  up  close  to  the  firing  line,  and  in 
consequence  suffered  enormous  losses.  Abdullah,  I  fancy, 
had  imagined  that  the  enemy  would  take  the  offensive 
against  the  2nd  Corps,  and,  when  they  displayed  no 
inclination  to  do  so,  he  decided  to  take  the  offensive  himself. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Bulgarians,  having  suffered 
enormous  losses  in  their  final  effort  to  hold  the  2nd  Corps 
on    the  previous  night,  had   now  entrenched  themselves, 


156         WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

determined,  as  was  proved  later  in  the  day,  to  act  on  the 
defensive  in  this  part  of  the  field,  and  furiously  to  attack 
Abdullah's  left  wing.  Had  the  Turkish  Commander-in-Chief 
had  a  fresh  army  corps  in  hand,  or  had  he  even  possessed  a 
spare  division  of  infantry,  some  more  batteries  of  artillery, 
or  even  ammunition  for  the  batteries  he  did  have,  it  is 
possible  the  attack  of  the  2nd  Corps  would  have  been 
crowned  with  success.  But  as  it  was,  his  troops  were 
already  worn  out  and  decimated,  his  artillery  had  only  a 
few  rounds  left,  and  the  moral  of  the  army  had  sunk  to 
the  lowest  ebb. 

Nevertheless,  the  troops  of  Shefket  Torgut  advanced 
bravely  to  the  attack.  A  firing  hne,  nearly  half  a  mile  long, 
was  formed  and  swept  forward  over  the  open  ground  until 
it  became  almost  hidden  from  view  amidst  the  low 
shrubbery  of  which  I  have  already  spoken. 

For  a  short  time  it  really  seemed  to  us  spectators  as  if 
the  advance  v/ould  be  successful,  for  the  infantry  pressed 
steadily,  and  only  the  enemy's  artillery  opposed  the  onrushing 
Turks.  But  suddenly  a  deafening  roar  of  musketry  rent  the 
air,  intermingled  with  the  tragic  hum  of  innumerable 
machine  guns.  The  noise  was  infernal,  but  it  only  lasted 
for  a  short  time. 

Then  suddenly  there  appeared  rushing  from  the  wooded 
ground  the  remnant  of  the  Turkish  firing-line.  Full  fifty 
per  cent,  had  fallen,  and  the  remainder,  losing  all  semblance 
of  order,  dispersed  in  small  groups,  and  under  a  perfect  rain 
of  shrapnel,  dashed  back  on  to  the  supports  and  reserves. 
Even  here  their  flight  did  not  end  ;  for  in  spite  of  the  eiForts 
of  the  officers,  the  fugitives  pressed  on  to  the  rear  until  they 
had  reached  safety  behind  the  ground  on  whieh  we  were 
standing. 

The  supports  and  reserves  of  the  broken  firing-line  were 
hurried  to  the  front.     They,  too,  reached  the  edge  of  the 


DEFEAT   OF   THE   2nd   CORPS  157 

wooded  ground,  where  they  were  met  in  turn  by  such  a  hail 
of  shrapnel  and  bullets  that  the  lines  seemed  Uterally  to 
melt  away  to  nothing  under  the  withering  blast. 

Two  Turkish  batteries,  the  only  ones  which  seemed  to 
possess  any  ammunition  in  this  part  of  the  field,  attempted 
to  relieve  the  pressure  by  opening  up  on  the  enemy's 
guns,  but  as  the  latter  were  invisible,  it  made  not  the  slightest 
difference  to  their  volume  of  fire.  The  only  effect  was  to 
attract  to  the  artillery  some  of  the  shrapnel  which  had  played 
such  havoc  with  the  infantry.  The  two  Turkish  batteries 
were  speedily  placed  out  of  action.  One  of  them  lost  all  its 
men  except  seven,  and  had  150  horses  placed  hors  de 
combat.  Fresh  teams  were  sent  up  later  in  the  day  to  bring 
them  to  the  rear.  1  examined  this  battery  carefully  on 
the  following  day  during  the  retreat.  The  shields  were 
bespattered  with  shrapnel  bullets,  and  an  entire  shell  had 
passed  through  the  shield  of  the  gun. 

Immediately  after  the  failure  of  the  attack  of  the  2nd 
Army  Corps,  I  suggested  to  Ismet  that  we  should  ride  to 
the  position  now  held  by  the  defeated  Corps  and  examine  the 
condition  of  the  troops,  and  also  endeavour  to  ascertain  their 
losses.  Ismet,  however,  pointed  out  that  we  had  only  one 
horse  and  that  it  would  be  very  poor  fun  for  the  one  who 
had  to  walk.  I  then  said  to  him :  "  You  stay  here  and  I 
will  go  and  have  a  look  and  will  return  in  an  hour."  Ismet 
advised  me  not  to  go,  saying  I  would  probably  get  into 
trouble  and  might  be  mistaken  by  the  ignorant  soldiers  for 
a  Bulgarian. 

However,  I  decided  to  go,  and  mounting  the  worn- 
out,  half- starved  old  nag,  was  soon  on  my  way.  I  was 
approaching  my  destination  when  I  encountered  some 
mounted  Turkish  soldiers  accompanied  by  an  officer.  I  was 
immediately  seized  by  them  in  spite  of  my  protestations.  I 
showed  them  the  badge  which  I  should  have  worn  on  my 


158  WITH   THE  TURKS   IN   THRACE 

arm,  but  which  I  was  carrying  in  my  pocket.  It  made  not 
the  slightest  difference.  They  seized  me  by  each  arm,  took 
away  my  revolver  and  field  glasses,  and  almost  every  odd 
and  end  I  happened  to  have  in  my  pocket.  They  then 
dragged  me  before  Abdullah  and  his  Staff,  who  laughed 
heartily  and  ordered  my  immediate  release  and  the  restitution 
of  my  few  effects.  Abdullah  then  sent  for  Ismet  and  told 
him  he  was  not  to  allow  me  to  go  off  alone  again.  There 
was  no  chance  of  this,  as  I  had  had  quite  enough. 

The  incidents  I  am  now  relating  took  place  about  twelve, 
midday.  For  the  time  being  the  forward  movement  of  the 
2nd  Corps  came  to  an  abrupt  stop,  and  the  infantry  fell  back 
a  considerable  distance,  where  they  remained  for  hours,  ex- 
posed to  the  enemy's  shrapnel  fire,  unable  to  advance  and 
unwilling  to  retire. 

While  this  desperate  struggle  was  raging  in  fi-ont  of  the 
2nd  Corps  the  Bulgarians  were  engaged  in  delivering  a  series 
of  equally  desperate  attacks  on  Abdullah's  left  wing  and 
centre,  held  by  the  4th  Corps  on  the  extreme  left,  and  by 
the  1st  Corps  between  Lule  Burgas  and  Turk  Bey.  The 
brunt  of  this  attack  fell  on  the  weakened  4th  Corps,  which 
the  night  before  still  held  its  entrenchments  on  the  hills 
facing  Lulu  Burgas. 

Here  again,  the  Turkish  defence  was  crushed  by  the 
immense  superiority  of  the  enemy's  artillery  fire.  Here 
again,  the  old  story  was  repeated  of  Turkish  batteries  unable 
to  play  any  part  in  the  battle  from  lack  of  ammunition. 
Here  again,  a  half-starved  and  worn-out  infantry  were 
expected  to  fight  like  men. 

Throughout  the  day  the  Bulgarian  advance  against  the 
left  wing  made  steady  progress.  Having  gained  possession 
of  the  railway  station,  they  were  able  to  outflank  the  4th 
Corps  and  force  it  to  retire,  through  fear  of  having  its 
retreat  cut  off  altogether. 


MAHMOUD   MUKHTAR  159 

The  efforts  of  Sali  Pasha's  cavalry  to  stem  the  advance 
proved  utterly  futile.  They  in  turn  had  to  give  way  before 
the  terrible  rain  of  shell.  The  gradual  outflanking  and 
retirement  of  the  4th  Corps  was  plainly  visible  to 
Abdullah  and  his  staff  in  front  of  Sakiskeuy,  from  the  clouds 
of  smoke  thrown  up  by  the  enemy's  shells,  which  were  now 
bursting  over  the  left  wing  of  the  army,  and  threatened 
every  minute  to  envelop  our  rear  and  jeopardise  the  retreat 
of  the  1st  and  2nd  Corps  on  Chorion. 

By  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  position  of  Abdullah's 
army  was  critical,  almost  desperate,  and  the  glasses  of  the 
staff  were  all  turned  towards  the  north-east  in  the  direction 
of  Viza,  from  which  point  Mahmoud  Mukhtar  with  the 
3rd  Corps  was  making  tremendous  efforts  to  come  up. 
An  engagement  of  a  desultory  character  had  been  taking 
place  in  that  direction  throughout  the  morning,  but  the 
smoke  of  the  bursting  shells  showed  that  up  to  the  present 
the  3rd  Corps  had  been  making  steady  progress. 

Messengers  had  arrived  with  the  news  that  Mahmoud 
Mukhtar  was  driving  all  before  him,  that  the  enemy  were 
becoming  steadily  demoralised  in  his  front,  and  that  he 
hoped  to  come  up  on  the  left  of  the  2nd  Corps  in  the 
course  of  the  afternoon. 

This  news  temporarily  raised  the  spirits  of  the  General 
Staff,  and  for  hours  all  our  glasses  and  all  our  hopes  were 
fixed  on  the  3rd  Corps.  About  two  o'clock  this  engagement 
to  the  north-east  became  furious.  It  was  obvious  that  the 
Bulgarians  had  detached  large  reinforcements  from  the  front 
of  the  2nd  Army  Corps  or  else  had  brought  up  fresh  troops, 
and  had  passed  the  right  wing  of  the  2nd  Corps,  until  they 
were  almost  in  its  rear  and  were  concentrating  every  man  in 
this  part  of  the  field  to  hold  Mahmoud  Mukhtar  back. 

In  the  whole  course  of  the  battle  I  never  listened  to  such 
an  artillery  fire  as  that  which  arose  from  the  contact  of  the 


160  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

3rd  Corps  with  the  enemy.  Mahmoud  Mukhtar  not  having 
been  engaged  on  the  previous  day,  was  able  to  employ  his 
artillery  to  good  advantage,  and  to  meet  the  Bulgarian  guns 
on  more  equal  terms.  But  even  here,  in  spite  of  its  previous 
exertions  and  vast  expenditure  of  ammunition,  the  Bulgarian 
artillery  soon  gained  the  upper  hand. 

Throughout  the  campaign  the  Creusot  gun  has  proved  its 
immense  superiority  over  the  Krupp  in  a  manner  which  has 
amazed  the  Turkish  artillery  officers,  but  how  far  this 
superiority  is  due  to  the  weapon  and  how  far  to  superior 
handling  it  is  premature  to  say. 

Even  the  heroic  efforts  of  Mahmoud's  hitherto  unbeaten 
infantry  could  not  drive  back  the  enemy,  who  fought  with 
unparalleled  determination  and  ferocity,  absolutely  throwing 
away  their  lives  in  the  Japanese  manner  whenever  a  point 
had  to  be  won  or  held. 

About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  it  became  obvious 
that  Mahmoud  Mukhtar's  advance  had  been  completely 
checked.  The  smoke  of  his  guns  no  longer  steadily 
approached  the  right  flank  of  the  2nd  Army  Corps.  Rather 
it  seemed  to  recede,  as  if  he  were  being  slowly  driven  back. 
In  any  case  the  great  gap  between  the  2nd  and  3rd  Corps 
had  not  been  filled. 

I  will  interrupt  a  further  description  of  the  day's  fighting 
to  present  to  the  reader  the  hopeless  position  of  the 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Turkish  army,  directing  as  he 
was,  or  as  he  should  have  been  directing,  the  movements  of 
four  army  corps,  ranged  over  a  front  of  twenty-five  miles. 
Abdullah  remained  throughout  the  entire  day,  except  for 
one  brief  interval,  on  the  mound  of  which  I  have  already 
spoken.  His  sole  companions  were  his  staff  and  his  personal 
escort,  and  his  sole  means  of  obtaining  any  information  as  to 
what  was  happening  elsewhere  were  his  pair  of  field  glasses. 
Not  a  line  of  telegraph  or  telephone  had  been  brought  to  the 


A   GENERAL   IN   THE   DARK  161 

front,  and  not  a  single  wireless  installation,  although  the 
Turkish  army  on  paper  possesses  twelve  complete  outfits  for 
its  army  corps ;  and  not  an  effort  had  been  made  even  to 
establish  a  line  of  messengers  by  relays  to  connect  head- 
quarters with  the  various  army  corps.  I  need  hardly  add 
that  not  a  single  aeroplane  was  anywhere  within  100  miles 
of  the  front,  and  if  any  exist  there  was  no  one  to  fly  them. 

Thus,  throughout  the  entire  day,  Abdullah  remained  for 
hour  after  hour  without  any  exact  information,  except  that 
which  he  obtained  hours  too  late  by  dispatching  various 
staff  officers  to  his  corps  commanders.  In  the  course  of 
the  day  I  only  saw  one  orderly  ride  up  with  a  message,  from 
which  I  gather  that  the  corps  commanders  did  not  even 
take  the  trouble  to  communicate  with  the  Commander-in- 
Chief. 

No  one  can  blame  Abdullah  ;  it  was  not  his  fault ;  he  was 
the  victim  of  a  vicious  system  of  bluff  and  make-beheve 
and  self-deception  which  has  brought  such  crushing  disaster 
on  Turkey  in  the  present  war.  But  in  all  my  experience  I 
have  never  seen  a  more  pathetic  or  instructive  spectacle  than 
that  of  this  Commander-in-Chief  of  more  than  100,000  rtien 
sitting  on  the  tomb  of  a  former  generation,  as  helpless  as  a 
blind-fold  man,  searching  in  vain  for  his  enemy. 

Thus  the  battle,  instead  of  being  directed  by  one 
master-mind,  practically  resolved  itself  into  four  isolated 
engagements  with  four  separate  commanders,  each  com- 
pletely ignorant  of  his  comrade's  movements,  and  each 
having  the  same  difficulty  as  his  Commander-in-Chief  in 
communicating  with  his  divisional  and  brigade  commanders. 

At  about  four  o'clock  I  received  the  first  tidings  of  the 
other  correspondents.  Suddenly  Lionel  James's  dragoman 
and  his  groom  came  up  riding  two  horses.  I  was  extremely 
surprised  to  see  them  and  asked  for  their  news.  They  told 
me    that    several    of   the    correspondents   who    had   been 

M 


162  WITH  THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

imprisoned  at  Chorlou  ever  since  their  arrival  at  the  front, 
had  broken  loose  that  morning  at  the  sound  of  the  guns 
and  v^^ere  making  every  effort  to  reach  the  battlefield. 
Lionel  James  himself,  so  his  dragoman  told  me,  had  left  for 
Lule  Burgas  by  motor-car,  and  he  had  sent  on  his  two 
horses  with  orders  to  make  for  that  town  with  all  rapidity. 
Of  course,  he  did  not  know  when  he  gave  these  instructions 
that  the  town  had  been  captured.  I  told  the  dragoman  he 
was  some  eight  kilometres  from  Lule  Burgas,  and  he  asked 
me  what  I  thought  he  should  do,  saying  plaintively,  "It 
has  taken  me  eight  hours  to  come  from  Chorlou  here,  and 
I  can't  wander  all  over  the  battlefield  in  search  of  Mr. 
James,  who  may  be  anywhere  now,  and  in  two  hours  it  will 
be  quite  dark."  There  was  truth  in  this,  and  I  advised  him 
to  remain  with  myself  and  Ismet,  as  Lionel  James  would 
probably  try  to  make  his  way  to  headquarters.  But  no 
advice  or  words  of  mine  would  have  changed  the  dragoman's 
resolution  to  remain  under  my  protection.  He  was  delighted 
beyond  measure  at  finding  himself  amongst  friends  once 
again.  On  the  way  up  he  had  been  arrested  by  parties  of 
soldiers  who  had  threatened  him,  and  he  was  half  scared  to 
death.  Later  in  the  afternoon  Ismet  and  myself  com- 
mandeered the  two  horses  and  rode  a  mile  to  visit  the  2nd 
Army  Corps.  I  also  learnt  from  this  dragoman  some 
interesting  news  of  the  trials,  sufferings,  and  indignities 
which  all  the  correspondents  had  suffered  since  their 
departure  from  Constantinople.  He  told  me  that  both  the 
motor-car  of  the  Daily  Mail  and  Times  and  my  own  had 
reached  Chorlou  safely  on  the  previous  day,  and  that 
Donohoe  had  left  Chorlou  and  had  gone  down  to  Rodosto 
in  ours  in  search  of  more  petrol.  To  my  unspeakable  regret 
this  man  had  brought  no  food  with  him,  so  we  were  but 
little  better  off. 

I  wiU  now  describe  the  dramatic  closing  stage  of  this 


THE  TURKISH   GROUCHY  163 

battle,  which  may  prove  to  be  one  of  the  decisive  battles 
of  the  world.  I  have  already  said  that  by  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  Mahmoud  Mukhtar's  advance  had  been 
completely  checked,  and  that  he  was  being  slowly  driven 
back.  Abdullah  and  the  General  Staff  recognised  clearly 
that  the  situation  was  almost  desperate,  unless  something 
could  be  done  at  the  eleventh  hour  to  change  the  fortunes 
of  the  day.  Napoleon  at  Waterloo  never  waited  more 
anxiously  for  Grouchy  to  come  up,  than  did  Abdullah  for  the 
advance  of  Mahmoud  Mukhtar,  and  now  it  was  obvious 
that  the  battle  was  lost  unless  the  enemy's  line  in  front  of 
the  2nd  Army  Corps  could  be  broken. 

Let  me  describe  once  again  the  position  of  the  Turkish 
army  at  this  hour.  The  left  wing  was  completely  enveloped 
owing  to  the  repulse  and  retirement  of  the  4th  Corps.  The 
1st  Corps,  next  in  line,  was  gradually  giving  way,  whilst  the 
2nd,  although  still  holding  its  own  under  tremendous 
artillery  fire,  seemed  incapable  of  any  further  offensive 
movement.  On  the  extreme  right  and  in  the  rear  of  the 
line  the  3rd  Corps  was  also  held  in  check.  Thus,  should 
Mahmoud  Mukhtar  be  still  driven  back,  and  should  the  4th 
and  1st  Corps  retire  much  farther,  the  2nd  Corps  in  the 
centre  of  the  arc  of  the  semicircle  would  be  in  danger  of 
being  cut  off  and  enveloped  on  both  its  wings. 

However,  on  the  other  hand,  the  strategical  position  of 
the  Bulgarians  was  also  extremely  dangerous,  because  they 
had  been  obliged  to  detach  a  large  portion  of  their  forces,  and 
of  their  artillery,  from  the  extreme  left  wing,  to  check  the 
advance  of  the  3rd  Corps.  Thus  the  Bulgarians  had  passed 
the  right  flank  of  the  2nd  Army  Corps,  and  were  almost  in 
its  rear. 

Now  Abdullah  still  had  a  chance  of  retrieving  the  fortunes 
of  the  day,  if  he  could  successfully  attack  the  enemy  in 
front  of  the  2nd  Army  Corps,  because  if  this  attack  was 

m2 


164  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

successful  and  forced  the  enemy  to  retire,  the  Bulgarian 
force  attacking  Mahmoud  and  the  3rd  Corps  would  be 
taken  in  flank  and  rear,  and  its  retreat  entirely  cut  off 
from  the  rest  of  the  army.  Attacked  in  front  by 
JNlahmoud,  and  in  the  rear  by  Shefket  Torgut,  its  position 
would  have  been  critical  in  the  extreme. 

Again,  as  in  the  morning,  had  the  Turkish  general  had 
but  a  fresh  corps  in  hand  and  a  few  batteries  of  artillery  the 
day  might  have  been  saved.  Nevertheless  Abdullah,  like 
Napoleon  at  Waterloo  with  his  Old  Guard,  determined  to 
risk  all  on  one  final  effort  with  the  exhausted  2nd  Corps. 

Staff*  officers  were  sent  to  order  an  immediate  advance. 
The  wearied  troops,  their  moral  half  gone  under  the  terrible 
rain  of  shells  to  which  they  had  been  subjected  throughout 
the  day,  once  more  pulled  themselves  together  and  advanced 
over  the  ground  covered  with  corpses  of  their  comrades. 

This  time  no  single  firing  line  with  supports  was  formed. 
The  whole  corps,  or  what  was  left  of  it,  moved  forward  in 
close  formation  to  the  edge  of  the  plateau,  where  disaster 
had  overtaken  them  in  the  morning.  No  sooner  had  this 
movement  begun  than  the  enemy  sighted  it,  and  I  am  told 
that  no  fewer  than  twelve  batteries  of  artillery  concentrated 
their  fire  on  the  doomed  troops.  The  white  puff's  of  smoke 
burst  in  an  unceasing  stream  above  the  serried  columns, 
which  were  met  by  a  fearful  storm  of  musketry  and 
mitrailleuse  which  no  troops  could  face.  The  column 
seemed  to  be  bathing  in  a  surf  of  shrapnel.  The  ranks 
wavered,  then  broke,  and  made  precipitously  for  the  rear. 

In  vain  did  those  behind  attempt  to  check  the  rush.  No 
amount  of  reinforcements  could  have  brought  success  at  this 
moment.  The  Turkish  soldier  was  being  asked  to  do  more 
than  human  nature  could  stand. 

Having  regained  the  old  ground  which  they  had  held  aU 
day,  the  fugitives  halted,  and  some  semblance  of  order  was 


THE   END   OF   THE   DAY  165 

restored  to  the  ranks,  and  the  corps  held  its  ground  for  two 
hours  until  darkness  set  in. 

Now  it  was  obvious  to  all  that  the  battle  was  irretrievably 
lost,  and  the  important  question  was :  Could  the  half- 
destroyed  corps  hold  their  ground  until  the  following 
morning,  or  would  they  be  obliged  to  retire  during  the 
night  ? 

About  half-past  five  Abdullah  Pasha  and  his  staff,  seeing 
that  the  game  was  up,  left  the  mound  on  which  they  had 
stood  all  day,  and  returned  to  the  village  of  Sakiskeuy.  I 
took  a  final  glance  round  the  field  of  battle.  Everywhere  it 
was  obvious  that  the  Grand  Army  of  Thrace  had  been 
beaten,  and  was  in  full  retreat  or  else  barely  holding  its 
ground.  The  artillery  fire  still  continued,  and  the  smoke  of 
the  shells  both  to  the  north  and  south  seemed  almost  to 
envelop  both  its  wings,  leaving  clear  only  a  gap  right  in  our 
rear. 

Ismet  and  I  rode  over  to  the  ground  where  the  2nd  Corps 
had  been  fighting  throughout  the  day.  The  dead  and 
wounded  littered  the  soil  in  every  direction,  and  the  survivors 
sat  around  with  a  hopeless,  listless  look  on  their  faces,  all 
fully  realising  that  the  battle  was  lost.  We  soon  had  to 
return  on  account  of  the  enemy's  shells,  which  never  ceased 
to  play  over  the  Turkish  position  until  complete  darkness, 
at  six  o'clock,  put  an  end  to  the  struggle. 

Both  armies  were  too  worn  out  to  molest  one  another 
during  the  night. 

During  the  day  Ismet  and  myself  had  been  too  busy 
following  the  various  phases  of  this  stupendous  combat  to 
realise  our  own  plight,  but  now  it  had  come  to  an  end  a 
reaction  from  the  intense  excitement  speedily  set  in,  and 
pangs  of  hunger  brought  home  to  us  the  realisation  of  our 
own  position.  During  the  entire  day  we  had  not  had  a 
morsel  of  food  or  anything  to  drink  except  dirty  water,  and 


166  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

now  darkness  had  set  in  we  were  without  either  food  or 
shelter  for  the  night,  intensely  weary,  and  with  only  one 
equally  tired  old  horse  between  us. 

The  General  had  told  us  in  the  morning  that  we  could 
pass  the  night  again  with  the  staff,  but  on  arriving  once 
again  in  Sakiskeuy  we  found  only  Abdullah's  servant,  who 
had  been  wounded  in  the  head  on  the  previous  day,  at  the 
house  which  the  staff  had  occupied.  This  man  told  us  he 
had  received  orders  to  pack  up  Abdullah's  baggage  and  to 
be  ready  to  leave  at  any  moment  for  a  destination  he  did 
not  know. 

This  was  the  final  straw,  and  Ismet  and  myself  both  felt 
on  the  verge  of  despair.  Without  horses  it  would  be 
impossible  to  retreat  with  the  staff,  and  we  both  felt  that, 
weakened  as  we  were  from  want  of  food,  it  would  be 
impossible  for  us  to  make  our  way  on  foot  the  fifty  odd 
miles  to  Chorlou,  the  nearest  point  where  we  could  hope  to 
find  food  or  horses.  We  asked  the  Mushir's  servant  if  he 
could  obtain  us  any  food,  but  he  only  replied,  "  There  is 
none  to  be  had.  The  only  thing  my  master  has  had  to  eat 
all  day  has  been  a  toasted  mealie  cob.  There  is  absolutely 
nothing  left  in  the  countryside." 

I  sat  down  on  a  chair,  and  Ismet  did  likewise,  both  of  us 
too  apathetic  to  care  what  happened,  and  both  too  weary  to 
move  another  yard.  I  remember  an  endless  procession  of 
wounded  men  passing  through  the  village,  some  dragging 
themselves  along,  others  carried  on  improvised  stretchers, 
others  supporting  one  another,  others  falling  to  the  ground 
as  soon  as  they  saw  a  pile  of  hay  on  which  to  throw 
themselves. 

I  also  recollect  seeing  some  desperate  cases  brought  up  to 
a  surgeon,  who  was  gesticulating  wildly,  explaining,  Ismet 
told  me,  that  it  was  useless  bringing  them  to  him  as  he  had 
no  bandages,  no  medicine,  and  no  means  of  performing  any 


A  DRAMATIC   MEETING  167 

operation.  The  stretcher-bearers — hurdle-bearers,  as  it 
would  be  better  to  call  them — took  them  to  the  nearest 
house,  and  left  them  inside. 

Yet  throughout  all  these  horrid  scenes  I  never  heard  even 
a  groan  or  a  reproach  escape  from  the  sufferers.  Each 
seemed  to  realise  that  his  number  was  up,  and  accepted 
his  hard  lot  with  superb  dignity  and  fortitude.  Shortly 
afterwards  a  dying  officer  was  brought  in  and  laid  in 
Abdullah's  house,  as  no  accommodation  could  be  found 
elsewhere. 

I  sat  debating  in  my  mind  what  to  do.  At  that  moment 
I  would  have  paid  any  price  for  a  couple  of  good  horses,  for 
a  biscuit,  or  for  a  bottle  of  whiskey.  I  thought  how  ironical 
it  seemed  that  I  should  be  sitting  there  with  £200  in  gold 
strapped  round  my  waist,  and  yet  be  unable  to  buy  even 
a  cigarette.  It  is  surprising  how  quickly  one  becomes 
apathetic  to  the  sufferings  of  others,  when  one  is  faced 
with  necessity  oneself,  and  even  the  lot  of  the  wounded 
aroused  but  little  interest  amongst  those  of  us  who  were 
unhurt. 

It  was  now  a  question  of  sauve  qui  peut,  and  that  feeling 
had  taken  possession  of  the  whole  army.  I  had  almost 
made  up  my  mind  to  pass  the  night  in  Sakiskeuy,  and  in 
the  morning  to  surrender  to  the  Bulgarians,  rather  than 
make  any  further  effort  requiring  physical  exertion. 

I  was  sitting  there,  half  asleep  in  the  semi-darkness,  when 
I  suddenly  heard  my  brother's  voice  calling  me  by  name.  I 
looked  up,  and  there,  to  my  unutterable  amazement,  I  saw 
my  brother  riding  a  horse.  Sir  Bryan  Leighton  on  another, 
a  young  English  photographer  called  Gordon  mounted  on  a 
third,  two  or  three  servants  and  grooms,  and  a  covered-in 
country  cart  loaded  to  the  brim  with  tents  and  baggage. 

Had  a  celestial  caravan  suddenly  tumbled  from  the  skies  I 
could  not  have  been  more  surprised,  and,  for  a  few  moments, 


168  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

I  thought  I  had  been  dreaming.  My  brother  told  me  after- 
wards that  the  only  question  I  asked  him  was,  "  Have  you 
brought  any  food  and  drinks  ? " 

To  the  infinite  joy  of  Ismet  and  myself,  they  had  brought 
supplies  for  three  days.  Without  waiting  to  ask  any 
questions,  we  rushed  to  the  wagon  and  devoured  anything 
in  sight.  Then  it  occurred  to  me  to  inquire  of  my  brother 
how  they  had  happened  to  turn  up  in  Sakiskeuy,  and 
whence  they  had  come. 

This  is  the  story  they  told  me. 

All  the  correspondents  since  their  arrival  at  the  front  had 
been  locked  up  in  Chorion  and  closely  guarded.  They  were 
all  so  closely  guarded  that  sentries  were  even  placed  round 
their  camp.  On  the  night  that  Ismet  and  myself  arrived  in 
Chorion  all  were  safely  quartered  in  houses  in  the  town,  and 
yet  this  fact  was  unknown  to  Abdullah  Pasha  and  his  staff 
when  they  sent  us  on  to  Lule  Burgas. 

On  Tuesday  the  sound  of  the  guns  of  the  great  battle 
aroused  all  the  prisoners  to  frenzy,  and  they  determined  to 
break  way  on  the  following  morning  and  make  their  own 
way  to  the  battlefield.  The  officer  in  charge  of  them, 
hearing  of  this  project,  said  he  would  conduct  them  himself 
to  Lule  Burgas,  being  ignorant  that  the  town  had  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  Bulgarians,  and  he  gave  a  general 
rendezvous  for  half-past  seven. 

But  the  more  enterprising  Englishmen,  especially,  had 
lost  all  faith  in  Turkish  promises,  and  long  before  that  hour 
the  Anglo-Saxon  section  had  cleared  out,  and  were  well  on 
their  way  to  the  front 

My  brother  bought  a  cart,  harnessed  my  two  strongest 
horses  to  drag  it,  and  made  for  Lule  Burgas.  By 
one  of  those  strange  chances  which  cannot  be  explained, 
they  took  the  wrong  road,  and  instead  of  arriving  at  Lule 
Burgas,  or  near  it,  they  wandered  quite  by  accident  into 


5 


WE   FEED   ABDULLAH  169 

the  village  of  Sakiskeuy,  where  they  found  us  in  such  dire 
distress. 

But  for  this  accident  I  do  not  know  what  would  have 
become  of  us  on  the  following  day.  I  do  not  think  I 
could  ever  have  reached  Chorion  on  foot,  and  certainly  not 
in  time  to  send  my  account  of  the  battle  to  the  Daily 
Telegraph. 

The  arrival  of  food,  tents,  and  our  baggage  soon  caused  us 
to  forget  all  our  miseries  and  misfortunes,  and,  as  all  the 
houses  were  occupied,  we  pitched  a  tent,  collected  some  com 
for  the  horses,  which  had  done  forty  miles  that  day  over  bad 
roads,  and  proceeded  to  cook  our  evening  meal. 

About  eight  o'clock  Ismet  came  to  me  and  said  :  "Abdul- 
lah has  returned  with  his  staff.  They  are  once  more  in  the 
house,  and  do  not  intend  to  leave  to-night,  but  all  are  starving, 
and  have  not  so  much  as  a  loaf  of  bread  between  them." 

I  collected  half  our  stores,  had  a  hot  kettle  of  cocoa  made, 
and  carried  them  to  Abdullah  Pasha  myself.  It  was  indeed 
a  pleasure,  at  such  a  moment,  to  be  able  to  repay  in  some 
small  measure  his  many  acts  of  kindness  and  hospitality 
towards  Ismet  and  myself.  The  General  was  sitting  on  the 
floor  of  his  little  room,  surrounded  by  his  staff,  and  with 
many  general  officers,  including  Shefket  Torgut  Pasha,  who 
had  been  summoned  to  a  council  of  war. 

Abdullah  Pasha  looked  worn  out  and  cast  down.  The 
faces  of  all  present  reflected  the  deepest  depression,  almost 
amounting  to  despair,  and  if  any  further  confirmation  were 
needed  as  to  the  plight  of  the  army,  it  was  to  be  found  in 
the  appearance  of  the  Headquarters  Staff. 

The  Commander-in-Chief  rose  when  I  entered  and  ex- 
plained my  mission,  and  thanked  me  profusely,  saying  that, 
without  my  coming  to  his  aid,  he  would  have  been  obliged 
to  go  without  any  supper.  I  wished  him  success,  and 
expressed    a    hope    that    the    enemy,   exhausted  by  their 


170         WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

exertions,  would  be  found  to  have  retreated  on  the  fol- 
lowing day.  Abdullah  Pasha  merely  shook  his  head  and 
rephed  :  "  I  am  afraid  not.  Our  army  has  made  tremendous 
sacrifices,  especially  the  officers,  of  whom  the  majority  have 
fallen,  including  some  of  the  youngest  and  most  promising." 

Then  I  withdrew.  Ismet  remained  behind  to  talk  with 
some  of  his  friends  on  the  staff,  and  a  little  later  returned  to 
my  tent  and  asked  if  I  could  let  Abdullah  have  a  little 
brandy.  We  searched  the  wagon  in  vain.  In  the  general 
confusion  of  an  early  morning  departure  it  had  been  for- 
gotten, and  also  the  whiskey,  but  fortunately  Sir  Bryan 
Leighton  had  half  a  bottle  on  him.  We  sent  half  of  this 
by  Ismet  to  Abdullah,  who  sent  back  word  to  say  it  was 
the  best  drink  he  had  ever  tasted. 

Sir  Bryan  Leighton  and  my  brother  told  me  of  the 
alarming  state  of  the  army  they  had  passed  on  their  way  to 
the  front.  They  calculated  they  had  passed  at  least  seven 
thousand  wounded  men  dragging  themselves  to  the  rear  on 
foot,  and  thousands  of  stragglers  fleeing,  many  having 
thrown  away  their  arms.  They  told  me  that  regiments 
leaving  Chorion  for  the  front,  melted  away  to  the  size  of 
companies  before  they  had  gone  half-a-dozen  miles,  and  that 
even  these  fresh  troops  had  been  two  days  without  food. 
They  were  amazed  by  what  they  had  seen,  having  been  told 
in  Chorlou  that  everywhere  the  army  was  victorious  and  the 
Bulgarians  beaten  back. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

THE   ROUT 

It  now  remains  for  me  to  describe  the  last  tragic  day 
in  the  break-up  of  Abdullah  Pasha's  army,  of  how  the 
troops  who  had  faced  every  adverse  condition  and  who 
had  fought  heroically  throughout  three  days,  finally  gave 
way  under  the  strain  of  starvation  and  exposure,  and  each 
man,  thinking  only  of  his  own  salvation,  sought  safety  in 
flight. 

At  five  a.m.  on  Thursday,  October  31st,  I  was  aroused  by 
Ismet  shaking  me.  These  were  the  words  he  whispered 
in  my  ear,  not  wishing  to  disturb  the  other  weary  sleepers 
in  the  tent :  "  Come  outside  quickly !  We  can  stay  here 
no  longer.  Abdullah  and  his  staff  have  left.  The  village 
has  been  evacuated.  At  any  minute  the  Bulgarians  may 
enter." 

I  was  astonished  at  the  news,  because  it  seemed  so  strange 
that  no  member  of  the  staff  had  warned  us  when  they  left, 
but  I  suppose  in  the  general  confusion  of  a  sudden  departure 
we  had  been  forgotten.  I  lost  not  a  moment,  but  aroused 
the  camp  and  set  everyone  to  work  packing  the  wagon  and 
harnessing  the  horses.  Just  as  dawn  was  breaking,  a  rattle 
of  musketry  from  the  hills  outside  the  village  from  which 
I  had  watched  the  fight  on  the  previous  day  showed  that 


172         WITH   THE  TURKS   IN  THRACE 

the  Bulgarians  were  already  advancing,  and  that  the  rear 
guard  was  engaged. 

Everyone  had  cleared  out  of  Sakiskeuy  during  the  night, 
with  the  exception  of  the  seriously  wounded,  who  were 
unable  to  move.  They  were  abandoned  to  the  mercies  of 
the  villagers  or  else  to  the  care  of  the  enemy. 

By  six  o'clock  we  were  packed  and  on  the  march,  and  just 
as  we  cleared  the  village  the  enemy's  guns  roared.  Then 
we  found  ourselves  amidst  a  crowd  of  stragglers  and 
wounded,  ox-wagons,  stray  batteries  of  artillery,  and  all  the 
manifold  debris  of  a  defeated  army.  All  had  one  object  in 
view,  namely,  to  put  as  great  a  distance  as  possible  between 
themselves  and  the  enemy. 

We  decided  to  take  the  road  to  a  village  called  Ahmed 
Bey,  six  miles  behind  Sakiskeuy,  where  we  were  told  we 
would  find  Abdullah  Pasha  and  his  staff;  but  on  reaching 
Ahmed  Bey  we  found  the  village  had  been  evacuated  and 
was  only  filled  with  stragglers  and  wounded.  I  therefore 
decided  to  make  for  Ciiorlou,  forty  miles  away,  and  to 
endeavour  to  reach  it  that  night. 

The  country  from  Sakiskeuy  to  Chorion  is  the  same  broad 
undulating  plateau,  dotted  with  villages  and  traversed  by 
innumerable  bridle-paths,  nothing  in  the  nature  of  a  high 
road  existing.  Almost  all  these  roads  or  paths  converge  on 
Chorion,  and  every  one  of  them  was  blocked  with  the  fugi- 
tives of  three  beaten  army  corps.  Behind  us  we  could  hear, 
from  the  noise  of  the  guns,  the  bursting  of  shells  ever  nearer 
our  rear,  and  the  incessant  rattle  of  musketry,  that  a 
desperate  rear-guard  action  was  taking  place,  and  the  sound 
nerved  us  on  to  fresh  exertions.  Away  to  the  east  a  pitched 
battle  seemed  to  be  raging,  showing  that  Mahmoud  Mukhtar, 
with  the  3rd  Corps,  was  making  desperate  efforts  to  retire 
from  the  exposed  position  in  which  he  had  been  placed  by 
the  break-up  of  the  1st,  2nd,  and  4th  Army  Corps. 


"SAUVE   QUI   PEUT  "  173 

I  do  not  know  to  this  hour  if  the  retreat  was  ordered  by 
Abdullah  Pasha,  or  if  the  troops  voluntarily  abandoned  their 
positions  and  took  to  flight.  Probably  an  orderly  retreat 
was  arranged,  but  speedily  developed  into  a  sauve  qui  pent. 

The  scenes  on  the  road  baffle  description  from  my  pen. 
They  recalled  to  mind  a  picture  I  have  seen  somewhere  of 
the  flight  of  the  French  army  after  Waterloo,  or  one  of 
Napoleon's  retreats  from  Russia.  Not  a  vestige  of  order 
remained.  Whole  brigades  and  divisions  had  broken  up. 
The  men  made  no  efforts  to  preserve  their  places  in  the 
ranks.  The  strongest  speedily  got  to  the  front,  and  the 
weak,  sick,  and  wounded  struggled  painfully  behind. 
Thousands  of  wounded  made  pathetic  efforts  to  keep  up 
with  their  comrades,  but  each  had  to  shift  for  himself,  as  not 
even  the  unwounded  were  in  a  condition  to  lend  a  helping 
hand.  Many  of  the  unwounded  were  so  weak  that  they  fell 
by  the  roadside  and  made  no  further  effort  to  save  them- 
selves. 

For  three  days  all  these  men  had  been  without  a  morsel 
of  food,  and  many  for  even  a  longer  period.  Only  soldiers 
possessing  the  wonderful  constitutions  of  the  Turks  could 
have  stood  the  strain.  As  our  wagon  lumbered  along 
amidst  the  ruts,  at  times  threatening  to  collapse  altogether, 
many  a  wounded  man  begged  for  a  lift,  holding  up  their 
hands  imploringly.  It  was  awful  having  to  refuse  them,  for 
once  we  had  taken  two  inside,  the  cart  would  not  hold 
another  person,  and  as  it  was,  the  worn-out  horses  could 
hardly  drag  it  along.  At  times  we  dismounted  and  gave 
exhausted  officers  a  lift  on  our  horses,  for  which  they  were 
profoundly  thankful. 

We  distributed  the  remains  of  our  food  to  the  starving, 
but  amongst  such  a  multitude  our  little  store  could  only 
supply  the  wants  of  a  very  few.  When  we  came  to  a 
village  some  way  away  from  the  battlefield  we  were  obliged 


174  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

even  to  abandon  our  two  wounded  men  to  the  care  of 
some  wagon-drivers,  as  the  horses  began  to  show  signs  of 
breaking  down. 

The  further  we  receded  from  the  battlefield,  the  worse 
the  scene  became,  because  many  of  the  wounded,  having 
dragged  themselves  thus  far,  could  go  no  further,  and, 
crawling  off  the  track,  lay  down  to  die  by  the  roadside 
without  a  curse  or  reproach  at  the  authors  of  all  their 
miseries.  Sometimes  when  a  man  had  died  his  comrades 
would  stop  a  moment  and  dig  a  shallow  grave,  but  the 
majority  of  the  corpses  were  left  just  where  they  fell. 

Amidst  the  fugitives  were  many  country-people  fleeing 
from  the  tide  of  war;  many  great  trains  of  ox-wagons, 
creaking  painfully  along ;  many  stray  batteries  of  artillery, 
with  the  horses  so  lean  that  they  could  hardly  drag  the 
guns,  and  with  the  exhausted  gunners  asleep  on  the 
Umbers.  Amidst  these  thousands  of  fugitives,  the  remnants 
of  three  army  corps,  hardly  an  officer  remained. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  campaign  the  Turkish 
army  was  no  fewer  than  2,000  short  of  its  proper  quota 
of  officers.  Its  loss  in  officers  in  this  great  battle  was 
enormous,  and  in  consequence  whole  battalions  were  left  like 
sheep  without  a  shepherd.  If  ever  officers  are  most 
necessary,  it  is  when  troops  get  out  of  hand,  as  they  did  on 
this  retreat,  but  without  officers  it  was  impossible  even  to 
attempt  to  restore  some  semblance  of  order  amongst  the 
flying  horde. 

On  the  road  we  were  met  by  fresh  bodies  of  troops 
coming  from  Chorion,  on  their  way  to  the  front,  and  ignorant 
of  the  great  disaster.  They,  too,  joined  in  the  flight,  and 
speedily  deserted  their  ranks  and  dispersed.  At  every 
village  crowds  of  stragglers  invaded  the  houses  in  search  of 
food,  digging  up  roots  in  the  gardens  and  eagerly  devouring 
raw  cabbages  and  turnips — anything  edible  they  could  find. 


AMAZING   SCENES  175 

Every  stream  of  water  was  turned  into  a  mud-pond  by  the 
general  rush  of  men,  horses,  and  oxen  to  be  the  first  to 
obtain  a  drink. 

After  we  had  marched  for  several  hours,  and  had  placed  a 
considerable  distance  between  ourselves  and  the  enemy,  we 
halted  for  half-an-hour  to  give  the  horses  a  rest,  but,  with 
this  exception,  we  never  once  stopped,  except  when  obliged 
to  do  so  by  the  block  on  the  roads,  between  six  a.m.  and  ten 
o'clock  at  night. 

On  the  high  ground,  half  way  to  Chorlou,  we  had  a  good 
view  of  the  whole  of  the  countryside,  which  presented  a  most 
extraordinary  sight.  Along  every  road  men,  horses,  guns, 
and  ox-wagons  were  pressing  forward,  all  converging  on  to 
the  two  roads  which  lead  into  Chorlou.  There  must  have 
been  forty  or  fifty  thousand  stragglers  scattered  over  the 
plain,  all  bent  on  reaching  the  town  before  nightfall.  Many 
became  so  exhausted  from  want  of  food  that  they  simply 
could  not  go  any  further,  and  lay  down  to  sleep  where  they 
were.  What  became  of  them  I  do  not  know.  I  suppose 
a  large  number  came  in  the  next  day.  Others  were  doubt- 
less captured  by  the  enemy,  and  the  majority  of  the 
wounded  left  on  the  bare  plateau,  swept  by  an  icy  wind, 
must  have  perished  during  the  night. 

I  have  no  time  to  relate  here  the  varied  tales  of  the  great 
fight  told  us  by  the  fugitives — of  whole  battalions  cut  to 
pieces  by  the  enemy's  fire ;  of  men  starving  in  the  ranks 
or  dying  of  exposure  ;  of  thousands  of  Bulgarians  slaughtered 
in  the  attacks  ;  of  artillery  captured ;  of  guns  abandoned  ; 
of  the  mistakes  of  Generals ;  of  the  awful  confusion  and 
lack  of  method  which  prevailed  everywhere. 

Many  of  the  fugitives  had  abandoned  their  kits  and 
equipment  to  lighten  their  burdens.  A  still  larger  number 
flung  away  their  boots,  preferring  to  march  with  bare  feet. 
But  to  their  credit  let  it  be  said  that  very  few  abandoned 


176  WITH  THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

their  rifles.  One  old,  worn-out  soldier  with  nothing  left 
except  his  beloved  Mauser,  and  so  weak  that  he  could  hardly 
stumble  along,  said  to  Ismet  as  we  passed  :  "A  Turkish 
soldier  is  not  worth  the  price  of  a  dog  these  days." 

We  were  yet  a  long  way  from  Chorlou  when  night  hid 
from  view  these  horrid  scenes  of  human  misery.  If  our 
progress  had  been  difficult  before,  it  now  became  infinitely 
more  so,  and  finally,  as  a  crowning  misfortune,  a  wheel  came 
off"  our  cart. 

The  screw  was  lost  and  we  searched  for  it  in  vain  in  the 
dark.  But  as  we  had  no  certain  proof  that  it  had  not  come 
off*  some  way  back  we  were  obliged  to  abandon  the  quest  as 
hopeless.  For  some  little  time  we  contemplated  spending 
the  night  on  the  road  and  going  on  to  Chorlou  on  the 
following  morning,  but  all  our  servants  were  dead  against 
this,  as  they  were  anxious  to  obtain  food  and  shelter.  The 
faithful  Hadji  then  suggested  that  he  could  tie  on  the  wheel 
of  the  cart  and  although  it  would  not  go  round  any  longer 
he  thought  the  horses  would  be  able  to  drag  it  into  Chorlou, 
exhausted  though  they  were.  There  was  no  alternative,  so 
we  accepted  his  proposal  although  it  seemed  extremely  cruel 
to  ask  the  two  horses  to  drag  a  heavily  laden  wagon  five 
miles  on  three  wheels.  I  do  not  know  how  we  ever  got 
over  this  last  stretch  of  the  road.  It  was  pitch  dark  and 
over  and  over  again  the  cart  was  on  the  verge  of  turning 
over  on  account  of  the  deep  ruts  and  banks  which  we  were 
obliged  to  negotiate.  At  length,  about  nine  p.m.,  we  came 
to  the  bridge  spanning  the  river  which  had  to  be  passed  in 
order  to  enter  the  town.  Here  the  scene  absolutely  baffles 
description.  The  only  road  leading  to  the  bridge  was  com- 
pletely blocked  by  an  immense  train  of  ox-wagons,  refugees' 
carts,  stray  commissariat  wagons,  soldiers,  and  masses  of 
men  having  no  semblance  of  order.  We  saw  at  once  that 
it  would  be  utterly  impossible  to  hope  to  get  across  the 


^^wppf' 


THE  FORD   m   THE   DARK  177 

bridge  that  evening,  and  that  if  we  were  to  obtain  food 
and  supper  we  would  have  to  find  another  way  round. 
The  only  alternative  course  was  to  ford  the  river  beneath 
the  bridge,  but  this  was  not  an  encouraging  outlook  because 
some  of  the  ox-wagons  had  already  tried  the  ford,  and  had 
stuck  in  the  mud  in  the  middle  of  the  stream.  However, 
Ismet,  my  brother,  and  myself  plunged  in  the  river  and 
found  the  water  only  up  to  our  girths,  and  we  called  upon 
the  party  to  follow.  It  was  a  desperate  experiment,  but 
the  faithful  Hadji  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  Calling  upon 
Allah  to  protect  him  and  to  give  his  horses  ten  times  their 
normal  strength,  he  took  the  river  at  a  rush,  and  after  a 
fearful  struggle  the  cart  somehow  got  through  and  mounted 
the  further  bank,  amid  shouts  of  joy.  The  following  day 
a  French  correspondent  tried  to  get  his  cart  over  the 
bridge  and  was  pushed  over  the  side,  losing  his  cart, 
his  horses,  and  his  dragoman. 

But  our  difficulties  were  not  at  an  end  even  after  we  had 
crossed  the  stream  and  our  efforts  to  regain  the  road  almost 
ended  in  further  disaster  and  we  were  very  nearly  pushed 
over  an  embankment,  but  by  a  miracle  we  escaped.  After 
that  we  crossed  the  railway  line  and  soon  found  ourselves 
in  Chorion,  where  at  least  we  had  a  temporary  home. 
Throughout  the  day  we  had  all  been  wondering  why  the 
Bulgarians  had  not  pursued  the  masses  of  fugitives  stream- 
ing over  the  open  plain  without  any  semblance  of  order, 
who  would  have  offered  no  resistance  had  they  been 
attacked.  But  the  Bulgarian  infantry  were  exhausted  after 
their  tremendous  exertions,  and  the  cavalry  of  the  Bulgarian 
army  is  almost  non-existent.  But  what  a  unique  oppor- 
tunity was  lost  of  finishing  off  the  war  then  and  there  I 
How  fortunate  it  was  for  the  Turks  that  the  Bulgarians  had 
no  cavalry  at  hand  with  which  to  pursue  the  beaten  army 
over  the  broad  undulating  plain  between  Lule  Burgas  and 

N 


178         WITH   THE  TURKS   IN  THRACE 

Chorlou  I  Had  a  few  brigades  been  let  loose  on  this  mass 
of  fugitives,  thousands  of  prisoners  would  have  been  captured, 
and  I  would  never  have  escaped  to  write  this  account  of 
the  battle.  The  thousands  of  fugitives  crowded  on  to  the 
banks  of  the  river  at  Chorlou,  who  had  only  one  bridge 
over  which  they  could  pass,  would  have  been  at  the  mercy 
of  the  cavalry,  and,  had  the  latter  possessed  a  few  batteries 
of  horse  artillery,  it  is  awful  to  contemplate  the  disaster 
which  would  have  ensued.  But  these  things  were  not  to 
be,  and  the  Army  of  Thrace  was  allowed  to  retire  on  the 
lines  of  Chataldja  without  a  shot  being  fired.  But  the  lesson 
is  obvious.  Had  the  Bulgarians  been  able  to  follow  up  their 
victory,  they  could  have  occupied  the  famous  lines  almost 
without  firing  a  shot,  they  would  not  have  lost  both  time 
and  men  in  their  abortive  attempt  to  carry  the  works  three 
weeks  later,  and  Constantinople  would  have  been  captured 
from  Islam  after  an  occupation  of  six  hundred  years. 

Looking  back  on  the  great  debacle  now,  the  more  natural 
does  it  seem. 

As  long  as  I  remained  in  Constantinople  and  was  unable 
to  see  with  my  own  eyes  the  true  state  of  the  army,  I  was 
perforce  obliged  to  accept  the  Turkish  tales  of  its  readiness 
for  war. 

But  from  the  very  moment  I  arrived  amongst  the  troops 
the  great  bubble  burst,  and  the  great  illusion  was  shattered. 
I  found  that  the  mihtary  authorities  in  Constantinople  had 
deliberately  deceived  the  outside  world,  and  had  embarked 
on  a  gigantic  system  of  calculated  lying  in  order  to  keep 
the  truth  from  coming  out,  hoping  against  hope  that  the 
bravery  and  determination  of  the  Turkish  soldier  would  pull 
them  through  at  the  eleventh  hour. 

The  responsibility  for  the  disaster  cannot  be  laid  on  the 
Turkish  soldier.  He  in  innumerable  instances  has  proved 
himself  as  brave  as   ever  he  was,  and  only  his   stubborn 


CHAOS  179 

determination  and  unparalleled  hardiness  prolonged  the  battle 
of  Sakiskeuy  throughout  three  days.  The  responsibility  rests 
solely  on  the  administrative  classes  and  high  officials,  who, 
eaten  up  with  pride  and  self-confidence,  and  regarding  all 
the  Balkan  States  with  the  utmost  contempt,  believed  the 
Turkish  army  to  be  invincible.  The  army  was  caught 
utterly  unprepared  for  war,  and  the  military  authorities 
remained  blind  in  their  belief  that  mere  numbers  set  forth 
on  paper  and  published  broadcast  in  the  Press  would  win 
the  day  against  an  army  smaller  in  numbers,  but  which  had 
been  carefully  organising  and  preparing  for  war  for  twenty- 
five  years. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  describe  severely  enough  the 
utter  state  of  chaos,  of  mess,  muddle,  and  make-believe, 
which  exists  throughout  all  branches  of  the  army.  Had  the 
Turkish  soldier  been  supplied  vdth  even  one  biscuit  a  day  he 
might  have  held  his  ground  against  the  invader,  and  I  am 
convinced  that  he  has  been  defeated  more  by  sheer  starva- 
tion than  by  any  other  single  factor. 

Looking  back  on  the  great  tragedy,  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  understand  how  the  wretched  private  soldier 
existed  for  three  days  without  a  scrap  of  food,  without 
any  shelter,  and  yet  covered  himself  with  glory.  The 
most  splendid  material  has  been  sacrificed  on  the  altar 
of  stupidity,  conceit,  self-satisfaction,  and  the  grossest 
ineptitude. 

The  Turkish  army  has  no  general  staff  capable  of  running 
a  country  circus.  The  army  has  no  generals  who  seem  to 
have  grasped  even  the  most  elementary  principles  of  modern 
warfare.  The  army  has  no  commissariat-train  of  any  sort, 
and  yet  four  army  corps  were  despatched  on  a  vast  offensive 
movement.  With  a  whole  line  of  railway  behind  them, 
within  fifty  miles  of  the  capital,  the  authorities  could  not 
feed   a  brigade,  and,   realising   this    fact,  they,   with   true 

N  2 


180         WITH   THE  TURKS   IN  THRACE 

Oriental  apathy,  made  no  effort  to  feed  four  army  corps,  but 
left  them  to  starve,  trusting  to  Allah  to  produce  manna 
and  quails  from  the  skies,  and  water  from  the  rocks. 

The  greatest  battle  of  modern  times  was  entered  on 
under  these  conditions,  with  an  utter,  callous  disregard  of  the 
consequences.  The  victims  were  marched  to  the  slaughter 
without  the  smallest  preparation  having  been  made  to 
succour  the  wounded.  Not  a  field  dressing-station  existed, 
not  a  field  hospital  was  established,  and  the  few  surgeons 
up  at  the  front  lacked  every  necessity,  and  were  obliged 
to  see  thousands  of  wounded  pass  to  their  doom  who  might 
otherwise  \  have  been  saved,  without  being  able  to  lift  a 
finger  to  help  them. 

The  artillery  was  sent  into  action  with  a  few  hours' 
supply  of  shells  and  not  a  reserve  within  fifty  miles,  with 
the  result  that  on  the  second  day  of  the  battle  the  Turkish 
soldier  had  to  fight  practically  unsupported  by  this  arm. 

Whole  battalions  and  brigades  of  ignorant  peasants  from 
Anatolia  were  sent  to  Constantinople,  dressed  up  in  khaki, 
handed  a  rifle,  some  hundreds  of  rounds  of  ammunition,  kits 
which  they  hardly  knew  how  to  fit  to  their  backs,  counted 
at  the  railway  station  with  glee  by  the  authorities,  and 
officially  described  as  *'  our  invincible  infantry." 

Thousands  of  these  men  had  never  had  a  Mauser  rifle  in 
their  hands,  and  had  to  be  shown  how  to  use  it  under  the 
enemy's  fire.  Entire  battalions,  unused  to  this  new  arm, 
and  never  having  been  trained  to  shoot,  would  loose  off  all 
their  ammunition  in  a  short  hour,  and  only  hit  the  ground 
fifty  yards  in  front  of  them,  inflicting  absolutely  no  damage 
on  the  enemy. 

I  never  saw  a  single  Turkish  machine-gun  in  action,  and 
if  they  exist  I  do  not  know  what  became  of  them. 

The  Bulgarian  artillery  played  a  matchless  role  in  the 
action.     It  overwhelmed  the  Turkish  defence,  and  crushed 


THE   NEW  POWER  181 

every  offensive  movement  by  the  rapidity  and  deadly 
accuracy  of  its  fire.  The  number  of  guns,  which  the 
Bulgarians  were  able  to  bring  into  action,  astounded  the 
Turks,  and  the  way  in  which  they  replenished  their  ammu- 
nition supply  was  a  masterpiece  of  organisation. 

The  fire  of  their  machine-guns,  of  which  they  possessed 
great  numbers,  was  also  extremely  deadly,  and  played  a  very 
important  part  in  the  victory.  The  heroic  courage  of  the 
Bulgarians  excited  the  admiration  of  their  opponents. 

A  new  military  power  has  arisen  in  Eastern  Europe,  which 
even  the  Great  Powers  will  not  be  able  to  disregard,  to 
threaten,  or  to  attempt  to  coerce. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

HOW   WE    SENT   THE   STORY   OF   THE   BATTLE 

It  is  all  very  well  for  a  war  correspondent  to  see  a  battle 
and  to  note  carefully  what  has  happened  throughout  the 
whole  struggle  and  during  the  retreat,  but  his  exertions  are 
absolutely  wasted,  unless  he  is  able  to  dispatch  the  news  to 
his  paper  without  delay  and  before  his  rivals.  This  is  the 
only  way  that  the  paper  can  obtain  any  adequate  return  for 
the  large  sum  of  money  spent  in  fitting  him  out,  buying 
him  motor-cars  and  horses,  and  sending  him  to  the  front. 

I  reached  the  house  my  brother  had  taken  at  Chorion  at 
ten  o'clock  on  Thursday  evening.  I  was  very  tired  after 
the  last  four  days  of  sustained  exertion,  little  sleep,  and 
semi-starvation,  and  my  natural  inclination  was  to  have  a 
good  dinner  and  then  to  lie  down  and  go  to  sleep  until 
I  woke  up  again.  But  I  knew  I  could  not  allow  fatigue 
or  hunger  to  overwhelm  me  at  this  critical  juncture.  I 
knew  I  must  find  out  at  once  exactly  what  had  become  of 
aU  the  other  correspondents,  but  more  especially  of  Lionel 
James  and  Donohoe,  whose  enterprise  I  feared. 

Therefore,  immediately  on  my  arrival,  my  brother  took  me 
round  to  the  house  where  he  had  last  left  James  and 
Donohoe.  By  banging  on  the  door  we  obtained  admittance 
to  Donohoe's  room,  where  we  found  him  asleep  in 
bed,  or  rather  on  the  verge  of  going  to   sleep.     He  was 


A    CONSULTATION  183 

immensely  surprised  and  pleased  to  see  me  again,  as  we  had 
not  met  since  he  left  Constantinople,  and  he  knew  nothing 
of  my  movements,  except  that  he  had  heard  vaguely  that  I 
had  reached  the  front.  Donohoe  told  me  that  all  that  day 
he  had  been  out  in  the  motor-car  watching  the  retreat,  and 
that  on  the  previous  day,  Wednesday,  he  had  been  obliged 
to  rush  down  to  Rodosto  to  buy  some  more  petrol,  as  the 
supply  we  had  brought  to  the  front  had  given  out.  He 
gave  me  a  very  sketchy  account  at  the  time — as  we  had 
more  important  matters  to  discuss — of  his  adventures  in 
the  car ;  of  how  it  had  stuck,  and  how  he  thought  at  one 
moment  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  abandon  it  altogether. 
But  the  most  welcome  news  of  all  was  the  safety  of 
the  car  and  the  fact  that  he  had  secured  sufficient 
petrol  to  carry    us    back   to    Constantinople  if  necessary. 

Then  I  asked  for  news  of  James,  and  what  Donohoe  told 
me  of  his  movements  was  profoundly  disquieting.  He  said 
that  James  had  left  Chorion  in  his  motor  car  that  morning, 
and  had  gone  down  to  Rodosto,  evidently  with  the  intention 
of  making  his  way  to  Constantinople  by  steamer.  Of  course, 
I  knew  from  this  that  James  had  not  witnessed  the  retreat 
of  the  army,  and  therefore  could  have  no  clear  idea  of  the 
result  of  the  battle  except  what  he  had  learnt  from  being 
present  at  it  on  the  Wednesday. 

We  then  considered  the  question  carefully.  It  was 
obvious  that  James  must  arrive  in  Constantinople  ahead  of 
Donohoe  and  myself,  provided  he  could  find  a  steamer, 
and  that  he  could  thus  send  a  censored  account  of  the  battle 
to  The  Times  from  Constantinople,  before  we  could  send  a 
censored  one  from  the  same  place  to  the  Daily  Telegraph 
or  to  the  Daily  Chronicle.  On  the  other  hand,  the  last 
boat  left  Constantinople  for  Constanza  on  that  day,  Thurs- 
day, at  three  p.m.,  and  there  would  not  be  another  until 
the  same  hour  on  Saturday.     It  was,  therefore,  absolutely 


184  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

impossible  for  James  to  send  an  uncensored  despatch  by 
the  Thursday's  boat  and  unless  he  hired  a  special  steamer 
he  would  have  to  wait  until  Saturday  afternoon.  The  fact 
that  he  could  send  a  censored  despatch  from  Constantinople 
ahead  of  us  caused  me  but  little  anxiety,  as  in  view  of  the 
Turkish  defeat  it  was  quite  obvious  that  such  a  despatch 
would  be  of  small  value,  as  the  Censor  would  never  allow 
the  true  facts  to  be  known. 

Therefore,  Donohoe  and  I  were  faced  with  this  problem  : 
Could  we  reach  Constantinople  on  Saturday  morning  in  time 
to  catch  the  steamer  at  three  p.m.  for  Constanza  ?  If  we 
could  do  this,  it  would  be  impossible  for  James  to  get  any- 
thing of  value  in  The  Times  ahead  of  us.  We  decided  that 
at  all  costs  we  must  make  the  attempt,  and  debated  long 
into  the  night,  which  would  be  the  wisest  route  to  take  and 
the  one  which  offered  the  largest  number  of  chances  of 
success.  At  first  we  thought  of  starting  at  daylight  and 
motoring  the  whole  way  down  to  Constantinople,  as  we  just 
had  enough  petrol  for  such  a  trip,  but  I  vetoed  this  idea 
and  Donohoe  quite  agreed  with  me  after  I  had  given  him  a 
cursory  review  of  my  experiences  on  the  way  up.  It  is  true 
that  it  had  not  rained  for  five  days  and  that,  therefore,  the 
roads  were  in  better  condition  ;  but,  if  we  punctured  a  tyre 
or  if  the  fool  of  a  chauffeur  made  the  smallest  mistake,  we 
would  be  liable  to  be  stranded  on  the  road  without  any 
possible  means  of  reaching  our  destination. 

We  decided  that  there  was  only  one  possible  course  which 
offered  the  least  chance  of  success,  and  that  was  to  motor 
down  to  Rodosto  at  dawn  the  next  morning,  Friday,  and  to 
take  the  chance  of  finding  a  steamer  going  to  Constantinople, 
or  else  to  hire  a  tug  or  even  to  take  a  sailing  vessel  as  a 
very  last  resource.  Donohoe  undertook  to  have  the  motor 
ready  at  seven  a.m.;  it  was  no  use  trying  to  start  any  earlier 
as  there  would  not  be  enough  light.     I  asked  Donohoe  if 


A   GOOD   DINNER  AT  LAST  185 

he  had  any  news  of  the  other  correspondents,  but,  although 
he  knew  nothing  for  certain,  it  was  quite  obvious  that  none 
of  them  could  have  stolen  a  march  on  us,  even  if  they 
had  seen  anything  of  the  battle,  and,  therefore,  our  minds 
were  set  at  rest. 

My  brother  and  I  then  returned  to  our  house,  where  we 
found  Goupa  had  prepared  an  excellent  dinner,  the  first 
good  meal  I  had  tasted  since  I   had   left   Constantinople. 

Of  course  I  told  Ismet  nothing  of  my  intention  of 
leaving  the  front,  because  it  would  have  placed  him  in 
an  awkward  position,  as  he  was  semi-officially  charged 
with  looking  after  me,  although  I  knew  perfectly  well  that 
personally  he  had  no  objection  to  my  leaving  the  front. 
It  has  often  been  brought  up  against  war  correspondents 
attached  to  the  Turkish  Army,  that  they  deliberately 
disobeyed  the  orders  of  the  authorities  and  broke  their  own 
written  word  by  leaving  the  army  without  permission.  But 
this  is  quite  untrue.  I  only  signed  with  the  stipulation  that 
I  would  remain  as  long  as  I  could  carry  out  my  work  in  a 
satisfactory  manner  and  be  of  some  value  to  the  Daily 
Telegraph.  None  of  these  conditions  existed.  I  had  no 
idea  where  to  find  the  Censor,  even  if  I  had  desired  to  do  so. 
If  I  found  him  and  showed  him  a  despatch,  there  was  no 
possible  means  of  sending  it  off  from  the  front,  as  there  was 
no  French  or  English  operator  and  all  messages  would  have 
to  be  dispatched  in  Turkish. 

Also  the  conditions  had  entirely  changed.  The  Turkish 
forces  as  an  army  had  ceased  to  exist,  and  although  we  were 
supposed  to  be  attached  to  headquarters,  it  was  impossible 
for  us  to  find  headquarters,  as  they  were  now  in  full  flight 
somewhere  down  the  line  to  Constantinople.  Again  all  the 
correspondents  had  dispersed  and  were  on  their  own,  each 
doing  his  best  to  send  off  the  full  news  of  the  disaster  before 
his  rivals.     Lastly,  there  was  no  question  of  giving  away 


186  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

military  secrets,  as  nothing  I  or  anyone  else  could  write  was 
as  bad  as  the  truth,  which  would  at  once  be  made  known  to 
the  whole  world  through  Bulgarian  channels. 

In  the  circumstances  the  reckless  charges  made  against  all 
correspondents  by  a  certain  Mr.  Bennet  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century  are  childish  in  the  extreme.  I  never  met  this 
gentleman  and  know  nothing  of  him.  I  see  he  claims  to 
have  been  appointed  a  Censor  by  the  Turkish  military 
authorities.  I  never  heard  of  his  appointment  in  Constanti- 
nople, and  he  certainly  never  saw  any  of  our  despatches,  as 
we  would  not  for  a  moment  have  tolerated  such  an  inter- 
ference from  an  outsider.  He  was  certainly  never  at  the 
front  with  the  correspondents,  so  I  am  quite  unable  to  say 
where  he  carried  on  his  duties.  But  I  am  amazed  to  learn 
from  his  article  in  the  Nineteenth  Century^  that  an  English- 
man could  have  been  found  to  do  this  donkey  work  for  an 
oriental  race,  namely,  to  censor  the  despatches  of  his  fellow 
countrymen. 

I  have  since  learned  that  Mr.  Bennet  is  an  Oxford  Don 
who  was  once  employed  as  a  war  correspondent  himself. 

But  to  continue  my  narrative.  That  night  I  did  not  retire 
to  rest  until  very  late,  as  I  had  to  make  all  my  preparations 
to  be  off  at  dawn.  Thus  it  seemed  to  me  I  had  hardly  been 
asleep  more  than  a  few  minutes,  when  the  faithful  Goupa 
was  shaking  me  by  the  shoulder  and  whispering  in  my  ear 
that  it  was  five  a.m.  I  never  felt  less  inclined  to  turn  out  of 
bed,  but  there  was  no  help  for  it,  and,  cursing  my  hard  lot, 
I  proceeded  to  dress.  By  seven  a.m.  I  was  ready,  when  I 
heard  the  toot  of  the  motor  coming  to  a  stop  in  front  of  the 
door. 

Now  it  had  been  carefully  arranged  on  the  previous 
evening  that  in  no  circumstances  was  the  motor-car  to 
come  round  to  my  house,  through  fear  of  waking  Ismet; 
besides  which,  we  did  not  wish  to  wake  up  the  entire  town. 


THE   FLIGHT   TO   RODOSTO  187 

and  thus  announce  the  news  of  our  departure.  We  were 
afraid  that  we  might  be  stopped  by  some  officer,  or  by 
gendarmes,  or  that  some  unknown  trouble  would  cross  our 
path  and  ruin  our  chances  of  bringing  off  a  coup,  at  the 
eleventh  hour.  Goupa  was  hastily  dispatched  to  send  the 
motor  back  to  Donohoe's  house,  and  I  followed  it  a  few 
minutes  later  with  my  few  belongings. 

I  found  Donohoe  sitting  in  the  car  and  fuming  at  the  mouth 
because  it  had  attracted  an  immense  concourse  of  spectators, 
who  completely  surrounded  him  and  shouted  with  glee  at 
any  strange  noise  it  made.  He  said  to  me  in  an  agonised 
voice,  "Come  quickly,  we  shall  certainly  be  stopped  unless 
we  get  off  at  once."  I  lost  no  time  and  the  next  minute 
we  were  tearing  out  of  Chorion,  which  I  was  never 
destined  to  see  again  during  the  campaign,  pursued  by  a 
crowd  of  children.  We  passed  the  sentries  without  being 
questioned  or  stopped,  and  once  we  had  obtained  the  open 
country  beyond  we  were  able  to  breathe  more  freely  again. 

It  is  only  about  35  kilometres  from  Chorion  to  Rodosto, 
and  the  road  is  rather  better  than  it  is  customary  to  find  in 
Thrace,  so  we  were  able  to  make  rapid  progress.  But  I 
must  confess  I  was  more  nervous  on  this  ride  than  on  any 
previous  occasion,  because  I  felt  that  my  labours  were  for 
the  time  being  at  an  end,  that  success  lay  within  my  reach, 
and  I  trembled  lest  at  the  last  moment  a  smash  up  on  the 
road  should  dash  all  my  hopes  to  the  earth  once  more.  To 
make  matters  worse,  the  chauffeur,  a  bad  driver  at  any  time, 
who  invariably  selected  the  worst  part  of  the  road,  was  in  a 
peculiarly  reckless  mood  that  morning  and  seemed  to  take  a 
fiendish  glee  in  bringing  us  to  the  brink  of  disaster,  but  our 
luck  was  in  and,  except  for  one  short  delay  to  extricate  the 
car  from  a  ravine  full  of  mud  which  had  not  dried,  we 
reached   Rodosto   without  incident. 

But,  just  as  we  were  entering  the  town,  our  spirits  once 


188  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

more  fell  to  zero.  We  heard  the  whistle  of  a  steamer  and 
saw  a  small  vessel  rapidly  leaving  the  shore  and  making  in  the 
direction  of  Constantinople.  Donohoe  groaned  aloud.  "  That 
is  the  tug  I  proposed  to  hire,"  he  exclaimed.  "  Someone  has 
got  in  ahead  and  has  taken  her.  We  are  done  ! "  I  tried  to 
comfort  him,  saying,  "  But  surely  we  can  find  another." 
"  No,  that  is  the  only  one  in  the  port.  I  made  inquiries 
when  I  was  down  here  two  days  ago,  and  there  is  not 
another  to  be  had  for  love  or  money."  Then  I  pointed  out 
to  him  two  steamers  lying  off  the  port  with  steam  up  and 
suggested  they  might  shortly  be  leaving  for  Constantinople. 
This  brought  a  respite  and  we  said  no  more,  only  gazing 
with  longing  eyes  at  the  rapidly  disappearing  cloud  of 
smoke  out  at  sea.  "James  has  got  her,"  Donohoe  kept 
on  repeating.  "  Oh,  why  did  we  not  start  two  hours 
earlier,  then  we  would  have  been  in  time."  I  refrained 
from  any  further  comment,  for  at  such  a  moment  all 
regrets  were  quite  useless. 

We  soon  reached  Rodosto,  left  the  car  at  the  local  han, 
and  rushed  down  to  the  British  Vice-Consulate  to  find  Mr. 
Streater,  the  acting  Consul.  He  took  some  time  to  find,  but 
at  length  turned  up.  We  explained  our  position  simul- 
taneously, until  the  poor  man  was  so  confused  that  he 
begged  us  to  speak  more  calmly.  Then  he  said,  "  What  a 
pity  you  were  not  an  hour  earlier,  you  could  have  gone  in 
the  tug."  "  Has  James  taken  her  ? "  we  demanded.  "  No," 
replied  the  Consul,  "James  left  by  the  Marmora  express 
last  night,  and  will  be  in  Constantinople  this  morning." 
This  news  did  not  serve  to  soothe  our  ruffled  spirits.  "  Then 
who  has  hired  her  ? "  we  asked.  "  Oh,"  Streater  replied, 
"There  are  no  correspondents  on  board,  but  there  are 
a  great  number  of  refugees  here  who  wish  to  leave  for 
Constantinople,  so  the  agent  has  fitted  her  out  and  is  taking 
them  down  at  so  much  a  head." 


"THE   CONSUL'S   BROW   WAS   SAD"       189 

We  then  told  the  Consul  we  must  have  a  steamer 
even  if  we  had  to  hire  a  special  one.  We  asked  him  the 
destination  of  the  two  vessels  in  port,  and  he  replied,  "  One 
is  a  French  boat  and  the  other  a  Turkish  one,  and  both  are 
bound  for  Asia  Minor  with  refugees."  We  asked  him  if 
they  would  agree  for  a  fixed  sum  to  take  us  to  Constan- 
tinople before  calling  at  any  of  the  Asiatic  ports,  but 
Streater  only  shook  his  head  and  replied,  "  I  am  afraid 
not."  However,  he  said  he  would  go  off  and  negotiate  with 
the  agents  on  our  behalf.  It  seemed  an  age  before  he 
returned.  Whilst  waiting,  Donohoe  and  myself  stood  at  the 
window  of  the  Consulate  gazing  out  to  sea,  hoping  against 
hope  that  the  smoke  of  some  other  steamer  might  suddenly 
appear.      But,  like   Bluebeard's   wife,   we   waited   in  vain. 

Presently  Streater  came  back,  and  his  looks  told  us  plainly 
he  had  failed.  "  I  am  very  sorry ;  it  is  impossible.  The 
Turkish  captain  dare  not  take  you  to  Constantinople,  as  he 
fears  a  revolution  on  board  amongst  the  emigrants  unless 
he  carries  them  direct  to  Asia  Minor,  and  as  most  of  them 
have  rifles  he  won't  take  any  risk.  The  agent  of  the  French 
boat  says  he  must  first  cable  down  to  Constantinople,  but  it 
is  extremely  doubtful  if  the  line  is  working,  and,  in  any 
case,  there  is  sure  to  be  a  long  delay  and  we  might  not  get 
a  reply  until  to-morrow." 

We  were  in  despair.  Every  hour  lost  was  of  paramount 
importance  to  us,  and,  unless  we  could  leave  at  nightfall,  we 
would  never  reach  Constantinople  in  time  to  catch  the 
steamer  to  Koumania.  Streater  then  suggested  it  might 
be  possible  to  get  a  tug  up  from  Silivri  or  from  Evekli, 
where  he  knew  there  was  a  salvage  boat.  We  begged 
him  to  cable  at  once  and  gave  him  carte  blanche  to 
arrange  terms.  He  returned  shortly  afterwards  with  the 
news  that  the  operator  could  not  be  found,  which,  translated 
into  the  language  of  Turkey,  meant  that  the  operator  would 


190  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

not  send  any  telegram,  unless  he  received  some  backsheesh. 
This  was  quickly  forthcoming. 

Meanwhile  a  slimy  Levantine  in  a  morning  coat  and 
greasy  bowler  hat  came  into  the  Consulate  and  asked  whether 
he  could  assist  us.  His  appearance  was  not  prepossessing, 
but  in  such  an  emergency  we  could  not  be  particular  with 
whom  we  had  deahngs  and  we  explained  to  him  fully  our 
position.  He  then  said,  "  I  think  I  can  arrange  for  the 
Turkish  steamer  to  take  you,  or  if  not  the  Turkish  perhaps 
the  French  boat  will ;  if  you  will  come  along  with  me  we 
will  see  what  can  be  done." 

Again  our  drooping  stocks  rose  a  point  and  we  followed 
our  would  be  benefactor,  the  Turkish  term  for  which  is 
*'  The  man  who  receives  a  commission,"  to  the  office  of  the 
Turkish  boat.  Here  we  found  the  agent,  the  captain,  and  a 
horde  of  other  hangers-on,  all  of  whom  would  share  in  the 
disbursement  we  might  make.  Our  guide  explained  our 
position,  which  was  quite  unnecessary,  as  they  knew  it 
already,  and  then  asked  what  terms  they  would  require  for 
the  short  eight  hours'  easy  steam  to  Constantinople.  The 
reply  staggered  even  Donohoe  and  myself,  though  by  this 
time  we  thought  we  had  become  accustomed  to  almost 
any  shocks.  The  mild  figure  demanded  was  three  hundred 
pounds  Turkish.  We  refused  to  negotiate  on  these  terms 
and,  as  they  would  not  bring  their  price  down,  we  tried 
threats  and  said  we  would  go  to  the  Governor.  I  also 
produced  the  letter  from  Abdullah,  the  Commander-in- 
Chief,  but  this  was  simply  brushed  aside.  They  knew 
too  well  that  order  no  longer  existed  in  the  army  and 
that  Abdullah's  days  as  Commander-in-Chief  were  already 
numbered.  Shortly  afterwards,  Streater  joined  us  and 
took  up  the  case  on  our  behalf,  offering  two  hundred 
pounds  as  our  maximum,  but  they  stuck  to  their  three  and  we 
left  the  office. 


"  PIRATES  "  191 

Streater  then  said  to  us,  "  It  is  no  use  paying  three, 
two,  or  one  hundred  pounds  to  those  people.  They 
will  take  your  money,  carry  you  out  to  sea  and  then  refuse 
to  go  to  Constantinople  on  the  grounds  that  they  fear  a  row 
with  the  refugees."  This  thought  had  long  been  in  both 
our  minds,  and  we  at  once  put  aside  as  hopeless  all  hope  of 
getting  the  Turkish  steamer.  We  then  tried  the  French 
boat,  but  the  agent  wanted  two  hundred  pounds  and  per- 
sisted that  it  was  necessary  to  await  a  reply  to  his  telegram 
from  Constantinople.  It  was  now  nearly  two  o'clock,  and 
our  case  seemed  almost  hopeless.  We  returned  to  the  ban 
and  had  one  of  the  most  melancholy  lunches  I  have  ever 
known.  The  Consul  did  his  best  to  raise  our  spirits  by 
assuring  us  that  very  often  some  stray  steamer  looked  in 
unexpectedly  at  Rodosto  ;  or  by  saying  he  was  sure  the  tug 
would  come  up  from  Evekli  in  lots  of  time  to  reach  Con- 
stantinople. He  also  remarked,  "  There  is  just  a  bare  chance 
that  the  Austrian  Lloyd  boat  may  put  in  here  to-day.  She 
was  due  yesterday,  but  never  turned  up  and  is  now 
twenty-four  hours  overdue.  But  you  cannot  rely  on  her 
as  in  all  probability  she  is  held  up  indefinitely  at  the 
Dardanelles." 

He  then  brought  the  captain  of  a  sailing  boat,  who 
guaranteed  to  deliver  us  in  Constantinople  in  eight  hours  if 
the  wind  held.  But  what  chance  was  there  of  the  wind  hold- 
ing !  It  almost  invariably  dies  down  at  nightfall  in  the  Sea  of 
Marmora.  We  felt  the  risk  was  too  great  and  put  that  scheme 
also  amongst  the  discards.  We  felt  there  was  nothing  to  do 
but  to  wait.  We  repaired  to  the  Consulate  and  sat  upstairs 
scanning  the  horizon,  examining  every  distant  speck  which 
might  possibly  be  a  steamer,  but  which  invariably  turned  out 
to  be  clouds  or  small  fishing  craft.  I  have  never  spent  a  more 
miserable  afternoon.  We  were  dead  beat,  too  upset  to  work, 
and  roamed  about  the  little  room  like  criminals  in  their  cell 


192  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

awaiting  the  verdict  of  the  jury  or  the  advent  of  the  hang- 
man.    Thus  the  afternoon  wore  on. 

At  four  o'clock  I  became  quite  desperate,  and  determined 
to  make  one  final  effort  to  secure  the  French  boat  on  my 
own  account.  I  went  to  the  agent  and  found  his  demeanour 
somewhat  changed.  He  seemed  more  anxious  to  do  business 
and  said  nothing  further  about  first  waiting  for  the  reply 
from  Constantinople.  He  made  all  sorts  of  difficulties  and 
pointed  out  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  land  us 
actually  in  Constantinople,  but  that  he  could  take  us  as  far 
as  San  Stefano,  from  where  we  could  take  a  local  service 
running  to  Stamboul,  or  else  we  might  hire  a  carriage  and 
drive  the  remainder  of  the  distance.  I  suppose  his  change 
of  attitude  was  due  to  our  not  having  accepted  his  original 
terms,  and  therefore  he  was  afraid  our  emergency  was  not  so 
great  as  he  had  imagined,  and  he  feared  lest  the  golden 
harvest  should  slip  through  his  fingers  altogether.  When  I 
saw  he  was  wavering,  I  proceeded  to  beat  down  the  terms 
and  finally  got  the  figure  down  to  £150,  of  which  sum  the 
Steamship  Company  was  to  receive  one-third,  and  the  rest 
was  to  be  divided  between  the  agent  and  the  captain,  and 
one  or  two  other  interested  parties  whose  mouths  it  was 
necessary  to  stop.  But,  when  I  thought  all  was  settled,  the 
agent  suddenly  declared  nothing  could  be  definitely  arranged 
until  he  had  been  off  and  seen  the  captain,  who,  he  said, 
might  not  be  satisfied  with  his  share,  in  which  case  I  would 
have  to  pay  a  trifle  more.  I  was  desperate  and  told  him  to 
go,  and  to  come  back  at  once  so  that  the  money  could  be 
paid  over  and  the  ship  made  ready  to  start.  He  promised  to 
be  back  in  half-an-hour. 

I  returned  once  more  to  the  Consulate  and  found 
Donohoe,  his  face  hidden  in  his  hands,  a  victim  of  the 
profoundest  melancholy.  "  Donohoe,"  I  said,  "  we  will 
get  there,  but  it  will  cost   us   not  less   than    seventy-five 


SAVED  193 

pounds  apiece."  His  spirits  rose  a  trifle.  Then  I  sat  down 
and  waited  for  the  agent  to  return.  Streater,  the  Consul, 
had  also  joined  us.  One  by  one  the  minutes  passed. 
Twenty-five  had  gone  by  and  still  the  agent  had  not  arrived. 
"  He  does  not  mean  to  take  us,  after  all,"  groaned  Donohoe. 
"  You  must  give  him  time,"  said  Streater,  strolling  across  to 
the  window  and  gazing  seawards. 

Another  five  minutes  had  gone  by  when  suddenly  the 
Consul  gave  a  wild  yell,  sprang  into  the  air,  rushed  towards 
us,  and,  seizing  our  hands,  dragged  us  towards  the  window, 
shouting  out,  "  Look,  look,  what  is  that  I "  There,  still  far 
out  to  sea,  way  down  on  the  horizon,  was  a  thin  trail  of 
smoke.  "  It's  a  steamer.  It's  a  steamer,"  yelled  Streater. 
"  Yes,  but  how  do  you  know  it's  coming  here  ? "  "  They  all 
come  here."  "  Yes,  but  it  may  be  a  warship  going  direct  to 
Constantinople."  "No,  I  am  quite  sure  it's  the  delayed 
Austrian  Lloyd  boat."  We  were  in  a  state  almost  of 
frenzy.  We  seized  our  field  glasses  and  glued  them  on  the 
spot.  Gradually  the  smoke  grew  denser  and  soon  the  out- 
lines of  a  large  steamer  were  plainly  visible.  We  uttered 
no  further  word  but  watched  her  course.  Suddenly  Streater, 
who  had  been  using  my  glasses,  broke  the  silence.  "  Yes,  it's 
the  Austrian  Lloyd.  I  know  her  by  her  funnels.  In  an 
hour  she  will  be  in  port  and  will  leave  to-night  for  Constan- 
tinople, for  they  never  stay  longer  than  two  or  three 
hours." 

But  even  now  Donohoe  and  I  remained  in  a  painful  state 
of  anxiety  and  asked  the  worried  Consul  more  foolish  ques- 
tions in  a  given  space  of  time  than  I  am  [sure  he  has  ever  been 
asked  before.  Such  as,  "  Don't  you  think  she  will  go  direct 
to  Constantinople  without  stopping,  to  make  up  lost  time  ? " 
Answer :  "  She  cannot.  The  terms  of  her  contract  with 
the  Turkish  Government  oblige  her  to  put  up  in  here." 
"  Look,  she  is  not  coming  this  way,  she  is  keeping  out  to 

o 


194  WITH   THE   TURKS    IN   THRACE 

sea."  Answer :  "  She  has  to  take  that  course  to  avoid  the 
shallow  water."  "  Do  you  think  there  will  be  any  room  on 
board  ?  "  "  WeU,  there  may  be  no  cabins,  but  the  captain 
can  hardly  refuse  to  take  you  on  deck." 

But  at  length  all  doubts  were  set  at  rest.  She  was 
obviously  coming  into  port.  We  closed  our  glasses,  opened 
a  bottle  of  whiskey,  and  drank  long  and  deeply.  Then, 
joining  hands,  we  danced  a  sort  of  farandole  round  and 
round  the  room  till  the  crazy  old  building  fairly  shook. 
We  forgot  all  about  the  French  agent  and  hastened  to  the 
han  to  make  ready  our  slender  baggage.  Now  we  had  our 
revenge.  The  unexpected  arrival  of  the  Austrian  Lloyd 
boat  came  as  a  bitter  shock  to  all  the  gentry  who  had  hoped 
to  make  large  sums  of  money  by  catering  to  our  misfor- 
tunes. The  price  of  steamers  fell  almost  to  zero.  The 
Turkish  boat  was  ready  to  take  us  for  £50  and  the 
French  boat  for  £25.  But  we  laughed  in  their  faces. 
Their  chance  had  gone.  They  could  have  gained  their 
money,  had  they  been  able  to  make  up  their  greedy  minds 
earher  in  the  day.  The  golden  harvest  had  slipped  through 
their  hands  at  the  last  minute.  There  was  wailing  and 
gnashing  of  teeth  amongst  the  Levantines  that  night  in 
Rodosto.  They  learnt  a  lesson  which  they  will  not  forget 
in  a  hurry,  namely,  that  "  he  who  asks  too  much  is  Uable  to 
get  nothing  at  all." 

As  soon  as  the  ship  came  alongside  we  went  on  board. 
Our  surmise  that  there  would  be  no  cabin  accommoda- 
tion turned  out  to  be  only  too  correct.  The  ship  was 
absolutely  packed  with  Turkish  refugees  who  had  come 
from  Greece  and  from  every  port  of  call.  Not  only 
were  all  the  cabins  full,  but  men,  women,  and  children  were 
sleeping  on  the  decks  and  in  the  holds  of  the  vessel. 
However,  we  did  not  care.  Without  even  a  place  on  which 
to  recline  my  weary  head,  the  great  vessel  seemed  a  paradise 


THAT   STRENUOUS    WEEK  195 

of  luxury  after  all  I  had  gone  through.  After  I  had  been  on 
board  a  short  time  1  met  the  captain,  who,  hearing  of  all  our 
hardships  and  privations,  said  he  would  allow  us  to  sleep  in 
the  hospital,  as  there  happened  to  be  no  sick  on  board.  This 
was  a  dirty  cabin  situated  right  forward,  and  to  reach  it  we 
were  obliged  to  climb  over  a  mass  of  struggling  humanity, 
weeping  women,  gesticulating  men,  and  children  howling  for 
their  bottles.  On  any  ordinary  occasion  I  would  have 
hesitated  about  sleeping  in  the  cabin  which  had  been  used 
as  a  hospital  during  a  fairly  long  voyage  by  countless 
refugees,  but  I  was  too  weary  to  be  fastidious,  and  after  a 
hearty  dinner  and  a  bottle  of  sweet,  almost  undrinkable 
champagne,  I  was  soon  sound  asleep.  At  nine  a.m.  on 
the  following  morning,  Saturday,  November  2nd,  we  reached 
Constantinople. 

It  was  exactly  a  week  since  I  had  left  Constantinople,  but 
as  I  drove  up  through  Galata  and  Stamboul  it  seemed  as  if 
months  had  passed,  and  at  times  I  thought  I  had  just 
awakened  from  a  dream.  But  what  a  week  it  had  been  1 
Here  is  a  brief  diary,  day  by  day. 

Saturday,  October  26th. — I  left  Constantinople  at  eight  a.m. 
All  the  day  in  the  motor-car  on  my  way  to  Chorion. 
Passed  the  night  in  the  rain  on  the  road. 

Sunday,  October  27th. — Still  struggling  to  reach  Chorion  by 
motor.  Four  p.m.  abandoned  car  and  walked  for  three 
hours.  Seven  p.m.  reached  convoy,  obtained  horses  and 
rode  for  eight  hours,  reaching  Chorlou  between  two 
and  three  a.m.  Spent  the  remainder  of  the  night  with 
Abdullah. 

Monday,  October  28//i.— Left  Chorlou  by  train.  Three  p.m. 
reached  Lule  Burgas.     Spent  the  night  there. 

Tuesday,  October  29th. — I  spent  the  morning  looking  for 
horses.  Eleven  a.m.  Lule  Burgas  attacked  by  Bul- 
garians. 11.30.  I  am  forced  to  fly  from  the  town. 
AH  day  on  the  battlefield.  Lost  at  nightfall,  but  finally 
reach  Abdullah's  headquarters  at  Sakiskeuy  at  9.30  p.m. 

o2 


196  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

Wednesday,  October  30th. — At  5  a.m.  we  once  more  leave 
Sakiskeuy  and  ride  to  the  battlefield.  All  day  I  watch 
the  fighting.  At  6  p.m.  I  return  to  Abdullah's  head- 
quarters. At  7  p.m.  my  brother  and  Sir  Bryan 
Leighton  arrive  in  Sakiskeuy.  Spent  the  night  in 
the  village. 

Thursday,  October  Slst. — I  leave  Sakiskeuy  at  daybreak. 
All  day  retreating  on  Chorlou.  Reach  Chorion  at 
10  p.m. 

Friday,  November  1st. — I  leave  Chorlou  at  7  a.m.  for 
Rodosto.     Leave  Rodosto  at  9  p.m.  for  Constantinople. 

Satm^day,  November  2nd. — Arrive  in  Constantinople  at 
9  a.m.  At  3  p.m.  I  leave  for  Constanza,  Roumania, 
by  steamer. 

Sunday,  November  Srd. — I  arrive  at  Constanza  at  1  p.m. 
All  Sunday  cabling  account  of  the  battle  to  the 
Daily    Telegraph. 

Monday,  November  4>th. — All  day  cabling  account  of  battle 
and  the  retreat. 

Tuesday,  November  5th. — The  same.  Sailed  for  Constanti- 
nople. 

But  here  I  am  anticipating.  Donohoe  and  I  were  to 
receive  some  further  shocks  before  we  finally  reached 
Constanza.  On  our  arrival  in  Constantinople  we  went 
to  the  Pera  Palace  Hotel  and  had  a  wash,  the  first  one 
either  of  us  had  had  since  we  had  left  Constantinople. 
The  luxury  of  a  bath  compensated  us  for  a  great  many  hard- 
ships, and  the  joy  of  putting  on  clean  clothes  was  immense, 
and  cannot  be  appreciated  until  you  have  known  what  it  is 
to  wear  the  same  garments  for  a  week  or  ten  days  on  end. 
The  surprise  of  the  manager  of  the  hotel  and  his  underlings 
was  immense  at  seeing  us  so  soon  again,  as  they  thought  we 
had  left  Constantinople  for  at  least  a  month  or  six  weeks, 
and  there  were  not  a  few  who  never  expected  to  set  eyes  on 
us  again,  fully  believing  we  would  return  to  England  via 
Sofia,  after  Nazim's  triumphal  entry  into  that  city. 


WE   RETURN   TO   CONSTANTINOPLE      197 

There  were  rumours  in  Constantinople  of  a  great  battle 
and  a  Turkish  reverse,  but  not  a  soul  had  the  least  idea  of 
the  extent  of  the  disaster  and  of  the  entire  break-up  of  the 
Turkish  Army.  We  guarded  our  secret  most  carefully  and 
refused  to  commit  ourselves  or  to  answer  the  most  pressing 
inquiries,  always  replying,  "  We  do  not  know  what  has 
happened,  as  we  were  kept  locked  up  and  allowed  to 
see  nothing."  We  also  kept  very  closely  to  our  rooms 
until  the  hour  arrived  for  us  to  board  the  boat  for 
Roumania,  as  we  were  afraid  our  presence  in  the  town  might 
become  known  to  the  authorities,  who  might  take  steps  to 
keep  us  in  confinement  so  as  to  prevent  the  truth  becoming 
known  to  the  whole  world. 

We  learnt  that  Lionel  James  had  reached  Constantinople 
on  Friday  morning  and  had  sent  off  despatches  through  the 
Censor  exactly  as  we  had  anticipated,  but,  as  I  have  already 
said,  this  caused  us  but  small  misgiving,  as  a  censored 
despatch  of  the  battle  would  be  of  small  value,  and  our 
descriptions  of  the  full  extent  of  the  disaster  would  only 
gain  in  comparison.  James  was  not  in  Constantinople,  as 
he  had  left  early  that  morning  in  a  small  tug  for  Rodosto, 
evidently  intending  to  rejoin  the  army,  and  hoping  to  be 
in  time  to  watch  the  closing  stages  of  the  battle.  After- 
wards, when  I  saw  James  at  Rodosto  a  week  later,  he  told 
me  he  had  left  the  front  when  he  did  because,  .having 
heard  I  was  with  the  army,  he  feared  I  might  steal  a  march 
on  him  by  slipping  down  by  train  to  Constantinople 
with  or  without  the  permission  of  the  Headquarters  Staff. 
However,  he  need  not  have  had  any  fears  on  that  score, 
because  nothing  would  have  induced  me  to  leave  the 
army  until  the  battle  was  over  and  I  had  learnt  for 
certain  what  had  happened.  He  also  told  me  another 
reason  he  had  for  leaving  the  front  when  he  did  was  the 
fact,  that  he  had  learnt  in  Rodosto,  that  the  only  steamer 


198  WITH   THE   TURKS   iN   THRACE 

for  Constantinople  left  on  Thursday  and  there  would  be  no 
other  for  four  days.  His  feelings  may  therefore  be  imagined 
when,  as  he  lay  horribly  sea  sick  in  a  terribly  rough  sea,  he 
saw  the  Austrian  Lloyd  boat  go  by,  because  his  instinct  told 
him  that  Donohoe  and  I  would  be  on  board,  and  therefore 
would  be  in  time  to  catch  the  mail  for  Constanza. 

It  was  not  my  original  intention  to  go  myself  to  Constanza, 
but  to  send  my  despatches  across  by  a  trusted  agent  and 
then  to  return  to  the  front  without  delay.  But  this  was 
impossible,  as  neither  Donohoe  nor  myself  had  a  single  line 
written  when  we  reached  Constantinople,  and  we  had  no 
time  to  write  a  lengthy  despatch  before  the  boat  left.  We 
therefore  had  no  alternative  but  to  cross  ourselves.  At 
2  o'clock  we  slipped  quietly  from  the  Pera  Palace  Hotel  and 
went  on  board  the  boat.  It  was  very  crowded  and  most  of 
the  good  cabins  were  already  occupied,  but  we  found  a  fairly 
comfortable  one. 

Almost  the  first  person  we  met  on  board  was  Mr. 
Fitzmaurice,  the  chief  dragoman  of  the  British  Embassy, 
who  went  up  to  Donohoe  and  told  him  the  authorities  were 
looking  for  us  on  board  and  had  asked  him  to  point  us  out 
to  them.  This  Fitzmaurice  declined  to  do,  saying  he  had 
not  seen  us.  Donohoe  came  and  communicated  this  awful 
news  to  me  and  we  both  were  terribly  scared.  Supposing 
that  even  now  all  our  hopes  were  cast  to  the  ground ! 
Supposing  we  were  prevented  from  reaching  Constanza ! 
Then  all  our  efforts,  and  trials,  and  troubles  would  be 
wasted.  We  decided  to  go  down  below  and  sit  in  an 
obscure  cabin  and  remain  there,  until  the  ship  started. 

That  was  an  awful  hour  we  passed.  Donohoe  was  quite 
desperate,  and,  taking  out  his  revolver,  swore  he  would  not 
be  taken  alive.  We  heard  voices  inquiring  for  "Mr.  Bartlott" 
and  "Mr.  Donohague"  of  the  stewards,  but  the  latter  could 
give  no  information.   The  clock  seemed  literally  to  stand  still. 


THE   STORM  199 

The  boat  was  due  to  start  at  3  p.m.,  but  she  was  late,  and  in 
our  nervous  state  we  thought  she  was  being  purposely  held 
up  in  order  that  a  more  stringent  search  might  be  made. 
But  at  last  we  heard  the  gentle  switch  of  the  screw  and  the 
welcome  sound  of  the  ladder  being  raised.  We  were  under 
way  and  knew  at  last  that  we  were  safe. 

But  now  for  the  first  time  our  luck  deserted  us.  The 
boat  was  due  to  reach  Constanza  at  4  a.m.  on  Sunday 
morning,  but,  unfortunately,  we  encountered  the  worst 
storm  of  the  year  in  the  Black  Sea  and  the  steamer  could 
make  hardly  any  progress  against  it.  All  night  long  we 
were  tossed  about  in  the  trough  of  the  sea.  Not  a  single 
passenger  was  present  at  dinner,  and  the  majority  were  very 
sea  sick.  Donohoe  and  I  had  come  on  board  with  the  noble 
resolution  of  working  all  through  the  night  at  our 
despatches,  but  this  was  quite  impossible,  and  at  six  o'clock 
we  were  only  too  glad  to  retire  to  our  berths,  where  we 
remained  until  the  good  ship  entered  the  port  of  Constanza  at 
1  p.m.  on  Sunday  afternoon,  more  than  ten  hours  late. 

We  rushed  to  the  Hotel  Carol,  engaged  rooms,  and 
hastened  up  to  the  cable  office  to  arrange  with  the  manager 
for  the  prompt  dispatch  of  our  cables  to  London.  I  never 
felt  less  inclined  to  sit  down  and  write,  and  Donohoe  was  in 
an  equally  bad  condition.  We  were  both  worn  out  from 
the  horrible  baffling  we  had  received  from  the  waves,  and 
my  head  swam.  The  manager  of  the  cable  office  was  most 
obliging  and  helped  us  in  every  way  in  his  power.  We 
handed  over  to  him  most  of  the  gold  we  had  strapped  round 
our  waists,  and  told  him  to  come  for  more  when  it  was 
exhausted.  He  gave  us  a  special  messenger  who  was  to  go 
to  and  from  the  hotel  to  the  telegraph  station  in  a  cab, 
engaged  by  the  day,  as  each  sheet  of  our  telegrams  was 
ready  to  be  sent  off. 

Then  we  returned  to  the  hotel,  had  a  hasty  lunch  and 


200  WITH   THE   TURKS    IN   THRACE 

commenced  to  write.  We  each  had  a  typewriter  and  kept 
at  work  the  whole  of  the  afternoon,  until  our  minds  were  so 
weary  we  could  no  longer  think  and  our  fingers  so  sore  we 
could  hardly  hit  the  keyboard.  The  messenger  thought  we 
were  quite  mad  to  send  off  so  many  thousand  words,  as  he 
had  no  knowledge  of  English  and  could  not  understand 
what  it  was  all  about.  But  he  entered  fully  into  the  spirit 
of  the  occasion,  and,  whenever  one  of  us  managed  to  get  a 
page  ahead  of  the  other,  he  would  point  this  fact  out,  and 
beg  each  of  us  in  turn  to  make  an  additional  spurt.  By 
eight  o'clock  I  had  only  finished  about  one  half  of  my  cable, 
and  the  manager  told  us  it  would  be  no  use  writing  any 
more  that  night  as  it  could  not  be  sent  through  to  London 
in  time.  We  were  glad  to  desist  and  to  sit  down  to  a  good 
dinner. 

All  through  the  following  day,  Tuesday,  we  were  hard  at 
it  again,  and  I  was  even  obliged  to  write  for  another  two 
hours  on  Wednesday  morning.  Then  for  the  first  time  we 
could  breathe  freely  once  more.  We  knew  we  had  beaten 
everybody  else  and  that  no  other  accounts  of  the  battle, 
uncensored,  could  appear  in  the  London  Press  until 
Thursday  morning. 

On  Tuesday  evening,  at  eleven  o'clock,  we  once  more 
boarded  the  boat  for  Constantinople,  and  after  an  extremely 
calm  voyage  reached  the  city  at  two  o'clock  on  Thursday 
afternoon,  wondering  what  had  happened  during  our 
absence,  and  more  especially  interested  to  learn  what 
sort  of  a  reception  we  would  receive  from  the  authori- 
ties, after  the  full  exposure  we  had  made  of  the  Turkish 
disasters. 

Now  that  I  had  finished  my  work  for  the  time  being 
and  had  a  few  minutes  for  calm  reflection,  I  became 
painfully  anxious  to  know  what  had  happened  to  all  the 
other  correspondents  and  more  especially  to  learn  the  fate 


THE   MISSING   CORRESPONDENTS        201 

of  my  brother.  I  now  realised  for  the  first  time  that  he 
might  be  in  a  serious  position,  left  as  he  was  at  Chorion 
with  all  our  baggage  and  stores  and  with  all  my  precious 
horses  on  his  hands.  I  felt  certain  the  Turkish  Army 
would  never  rally  at  Chorlou  and  feared  lest  the  town  had 
already  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Bulgarians,  and  thought 
it  more  than  likely  that  by  this  time  the  unfortunate 
Seabury  was  well  on  his  way  to  Sofia  as  a  prisoner  of 
war. 

I  had  one  ray  of  hope.  Just  as  I  was  leaving  Chorlou 
on  the  Friday  morning,  MacCulloch,  the  special  corres- 
pondent of  the  Daily  News,  who  was  afterwards  captured, 
handed  me  a  letter  from  Bryant,  the  Englishman  I  had 
engaged  to  join  me  at  Chorlou  to  carry  despatches.  In 
this  he  said  he  had  reached  Chorlou  and  was  hiding  in  a 
house  in  the  town,  so  as  not  to  attract  the  attention  of 
the  authorities.  I  had  no  time  to  find  him  or  even  to  write 
him  a  note,  but  I  hoped  he  would  learn  of  my  brother's 
presence  and  would  join  him.  I  had  great  faith  in  Bryant's 
knowledge  of  the  Turkish  language,  the  character  of  the 
race,  and  more  especially  of  the  country,  and  I  hoped  he 
would  bring  my  brother  safely  through  all  difficulties  to 
C  onstantinople. 

As  soon  as  I  reached  the  Pera  Palace  Hotel  I  inquired 
if  he  had  arrived,  but,  to  my  dismay,  they  told  me  no 
English  correspondents  had  as  yet  reached  Constantinople, 
and  there  was  absolutely  no  news  of  my  brother  or  of 
any  of  them.  This  filled  me  with  anxiety.  I  went 
upstairs  to  my  room  and  sat  down  to  think  over  the  whole 
position,  to  decide  what  steps  I  would  take  to  go  in  search 
of  my  brother,  Sir  Bryan  Leighton,  my  stores,  my  camp 
equipment,  and  my  horses. 

I  had  hardly  sat  there  for  half  an  hour,  when  the  door 
of  my  room  opened  and  in  walked  my  brother,  very  dirty, 


202  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

very  weary,  and  with  a  ten  days'  growth  of  beard  on 
his  face.  In  a  few  words  he  gave  me  a  brief  summary 
of  his  own  adventures  after  I  had  left  Chorion,  and  I  will 
now  leave  him  to  tell  his  own  tale  of  his  personal  experiences 
and  of  what  he  saw  of  the  retreat  of  the  routed  Army  of 
Thrace  from  Chorlou  to  the  lines  of  Chataldja. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  RETREAT  FROM  CHORLOU  TO  CHATALDJA 

My  brother  left  Chorlou  for  Rodosto  at  seven  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  Friday,  November  1st.  I  did  not  expect  to  see 
him  again  during  the  war,  as  I  knew  that  it  was  his  intention 
to  go  to  Constanza  in  Roumania  in  order  to  send  off  his 
despatches  describing  the  battle  of  Lule  Burgas,  and  I  did 
not  think  the  Turkish  authorities — supine  as  I  knew  them  to 
be — would  ever  allow  him  to  return  to  Constantinople,  much 
less  to  the  front.  Indeed  I  feared  that  when  his  uncere- 
monious departure  became  known,  I  should  be  arrested  and 
summarily  executed  or  expelled,  or,  worse  still,  incarcerated 
in  some  vermin-haunted  ergastula. 

It  was  impossible  to  ride  out  on  Friday  in  order  to  see 
what  had  become  of  the  defeated  army,  as  the  horses  had 
done  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in  three  days  over  rough 
country,  and  were  badly  in  need  of  rest. 

About  lunch  time  I  sauntered  out  to  see  some  of  the 
other  correspondents,  and  to  learn  of  their  adventures.  As 
I  was  passing  down  the  principal  street,  an  unknown  man  in 
the  dress  of  a  Greek  peasant  accosted  me  and  then  thrust  a 
crumpled  piece  of  paper  into  my  hand.  I  was  greatly 
astonished  and  turned  round  to  ask  the  man  what  he  wanted, 
but  he  was  already  disappearing  up  a  side  street.  I  examined 
the  piece  of  paper  and  on  it  was  written :  "  I  am  at  the 

208 


204  WITH   THE   TURKS  IN   THRACE 

house  of  the  Greek  priest,  in  the  street  of  the  tanners.— 
Bryant." 

I  was  quite  at  a  loss  as  to  what  this  could  mean,  and 
was  about  to  throw  away  the  paper,  thinking  that  the 
man  had  made  a  mistake,  when  I  suddenly  remembered  that 
after  the  battle  of  Lule  Burgas,  my  brother  had  asked  me  if 
I  had  seen  or  heard  anything  of  one  Bryant,  an  Englishman 
in  the  roads  department,  whom  he  had  engaged  as  a  drago- 
man and  despatch  rider  a  few  minutes  before  leaving  Con- 
stantinople. Bryant  had  undertaken  to  break  through  the 
Turkish  lines  and  to  get  to  Chorion  by  the  previous  Monday, 
but  since  then  we  had  heard  nothing  of  him,  and  my  brother 
thought  that  he  had  probably  abandoned  the  attempt  as 
hopeless,  or  else  that  he  had  been  caught  and  shot  as  a  spy. 

With  some  difficulty  I  found  the  house  of  the  Greek 
priest  in  the  street  of  the  tanners.  Bryant  was  hiding  in  a 
back  room,  and  was  in  a  sad  state  of  dilapidation,  his  clothes 
being  torn  and  covered  with  mud,  and  the  soles  of  his  very 
inadequate  boots  worn  completely  through.  He  told  me  that 
he  had  been  five  days  getting  through  Constantinople  and 
that  after  passing  the  lines  of  Chataldja  on  foot,  he  had 
made  his  way  to  the  sea  coast  and  had  come  thence  in  a  row 
boat  to  Silivri.  From  the  latter  place  he  had  walked  to 
Chorion,  and  had  been  hiding  for  twenty -four  hours  in  the 
house  of  the  priest,  who  was  an  old  friend  of  his,  not  daring 
to  go  out  for  fear  of  being  arrested  as  a  spy. 

I  was  very  glad  of  his  arrival,  as  I  was  badly  in  need  of 
an  interpreter  whom  I  could  trust  and  who  knew  the 
country,  so  I  took  him  back  to  where  I  was  lodging,  and 
provided  him  with  some  clothes  and  a  badge  certifying 
that    he   was   our   dragoman. 

Signs  of  the  rout  were  becoming  more  and  more  apparent 
in  the  peaceful  little  town  of  Chorion.  One  by  one  the 
shutters  were  being  put  up  in  the  front  of  the  shops,  and  the 


"".I)'         t    o  „at    '"'o 


GOUPA'S   FAREWELL  205 

Ottoman  subjects  were  beginning  to  pack  their  worldly 
belongings  in  bullock- wagons  and  to  trail  out  of  the  town 
toward  the  sea  coast.  The  streets  also  were  becoming  more 
and  more  crowded  with  hungry  and  dispirited  looking  soldiers, 
wandering  around  in  search  of  something  to  eat.  Fearing 
that  at  any  moment  the  patience  of  these  unhappy  men 
might  become  exhausted,  and  the  town  given  over  to  pillage 
and  loot,  I  decided  to  leave  my  comfortable  quarters,  and  to 
move  to  a  room  in  the  inn — or  ban  as  they  are  locally 
called, — above  the  stables  in  which  our  horses  were  kept.  In 
doing  this  I  was  chiefly  actuated  by  the  thought  that,  in  the 
event  of  trouble,  the  horses  would  at  once  be  looted,  and  I 
was  anxious  to  be  able  to  protect  them. 

As  I  was  packing  up  our  things,  Goupa,  my  brother's 
Greek  dragoman,  came  to  me,  and,  after  taking  up  an  attitude 
much  resembling  that  of  the  Chevalier  Grasso  in  Othello 
when  he  discovers  the  supposed  treachery  of  Desdemona, 
began  pouring  forth  a  flood  of  eloquence  in  bad  French, 
accompanied  by  an  extraordinary  exuberance  of  tragic 
gesture.  It  was  some  minutes  before  I  could  make  out 
what  he  was  talking  about,  then  I  grasped  that  he  was 
imploring  me  not  to  stay  in  such  a  danger  spot  as  Chorlou, 
but  to  take  the  train  back  to  Constantinople  at  once. 

I  told  him  that  such  a  thing  was  utterly  impossible, 
whereupon  he  went  on  with  greater  vehemence.  *'  Here  we 
are  exposed  to  the  rapacity  of  the  Turks,  and  to  the 
vengeance  of  the  wild  Bulgarians.  This  is  alright  for  you. 
You  are  an  Englishman,  and  do  not  mind  to  die — all  your 
race  is  so.  They  are  a  nation  of  madmen.  It  is  alright  for 
me  also,  for  I  am  a  man  and  know  not  fear."  His  attitude 
became  more  and  more  heroic.  "  It  does  not  matter  for 
my  wife ;  when  I  am  gone  she  can  take  another  husband." 
Here  he  actually  shed  a  tear.  "  But  it  is  of  my  daughters 
that  I  think.     If  I  perish  and  can  no  longer  protect  them, 


206  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

they  will  go  on  the  streets  ;  I  know  it  as  sure  as  my  name 
is  Goupa,  they  will  take  to  the  streets." 

There  was  so  much  pathos,  nobihty  of  gesture,  and 
paternal  affection  in  his  voice  that  I  was  quite  moved.  As 
there  was  a  train  leaving  that  evening,  I  told  Goupa  to  take 
all  the  heavy  baggage  and  to  go  with  it  to  Chataldja,  or 
Constantinople,  at  which  he  was  highly  delighted  and  left 
in  due  course.  Bryant,  who  knows  the  country,  afterwards 
spoilt  the  effect  of  Goupa's  heroics  by  telling  me  that  the 
man  had  been  in  the  last  extremity  of  fear  for  some  time 
and  was  thinking  solely  of  his  own  safety. 

I  had  the  remainder  of  the  things  carried  round  to  the 
han,  where  Bryant  and  I  were  accommodated  in  a  dirty, 
little,  tumble-down  room,  with  whitewashed  walls,  and  a 
broken  window.  It  contained  two  large  beds,  which 
occupied  practically  all  the  floor  space.  The  room  was 
on  the  first  floor,  directly  above  the  stables  which  occupied 
the  whole  of  the  ground  floor,  and  in  which  were 
housed  some  thirty  horses.  Outside  the  room  was  a  large 
square  atrium,  where  some  twenty  soldiers  and  peasants 
were  sitting  round  in  a  circle  eating  their  meal  out  of  an 
iron  pot.  The  stench  from  the  stables  was  indescribable, 
and  1  think  a  few  nights  in  that  han  would  have  meant 
typhoid  fever. 

Ismet  Bey  came  in  to  dine  with  us,  and  the  dinner,  which 
consisted  of  dry  biscuits,  potted  meat,  sardines,  and  cocoa, 
was  spread  upon  my  bed,  upon  which  we  also  sat  cross- 
legged  while  we  ate. 

Ismet  is  a  young  Turk  and  a  good  example  of  the  new 
school,  and  is  at  once  one  of  the  most  delightful  and 
cultured  of  the  Turks  that  I  met  during  my  sojourn  in 
the  country.  His  family  have  discarded  the  old  Turkish 
fashion  of  locking  up  their  womenfolk  in  a  harem,  and 
of  never  allowing  them  to   be   seen  with  uncovered  faces 


ISMET   ON   THE   CHRISTIANS  207 

by  a  man,  and  he  himself  is  married  to  a  charming  French- 
woman. 

He  appeared  to  feel  the  disaster  which  had  fallen  on  his 
country  at  Lule  Burgas  very  much.  When  I  remarked 
that  the  general  disorganisation  had  surprised  me,  as  I 
had  understood  that  the  Young  Turks  had  entirely  reformed 
the  army  since  their  advent  to  power  in  1908,  he  said  : 
"  How  could  we  ?  We  did  our  best,  but  we  were  never 
given  a  chance.  First  there  was  the  rising  of  the  Arabs 
in  the  Yemen,  then  the  Albanians  revolted,  after  that  it 
was  the  Kurds  of  the  Caucasus,  and  then  came  Italy's 
attack  on  Tripoh."  He  was  silent  for  a  few  moments, 
overcome  by  the  memory  of  so  many  disasters.  Then  he 
went  on  :  "  Besides  how  can  we  hope  to  govern  the  Turkish 
Empire  by  constitutional  means  ?  There  are  no  less  than 
thirty-two  different  races  and  one  hundred  different  creeds. 
Most  of  the  people,  too,  are  quite  ignorant,  their  only 
education  being  a  knowledge  of  a  few  religious  shibboleths." 

"Yes,"  I  answered.  "You  did,  indeed,  undertake  a 
hopeless  task.  Only  a  dictator  could  hope  to  govern  such  a 
discordant  conglomeration.  Your  task  was  further  compli- 
cated by  half  the  sects  being  Christians." 

"  Yes,"  Ismet  answered,  "  and  what  Christians  some  of 
them  are !  At  Jerusalem  at  least  twenty  different  sects 
wage  incessant  warfare  round  the  birthplace  of  your  beautiful 
gospel  of  peace." 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  "  I  have  always  understood  that  it 
was  hard  for  a  man  to  visit  Jerusalem  and  to  remain  a 
Christian." 

"  My  cousin,"  Ismet  continued,  "  was  for  a  long  time 
Governor  of  the  Holy  City  before  he  went  to  Smyrna,  and 
his  life  was  rendered  intolerable  by  the  quarrels  of  the 
Christians.  One  night  when  I  was  staying  with  him,"  Ismet 
went  on,  "  a  soldier  came  to  the  palace  at  two  in  the  morn- 


208  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

ing  and  awakened  him,  begging  that  he  would  come  at 
once  to  the  sacred  shrine  of  Bethlehem,  where  a  terrible 
fight  was  going  on  between  orthodox  Greeks  and  Roman 
Catholics.  It  appears  that  the  Roman  Catholics  are  allowed 
to  pass  before  the  shrine  from  nine  o'clock  till  midnight,  and 
the  Greeks  from  midnight  until  three  a.m.  Each  supnliant 
is  supposed  to  make  three  genuflexions  before  the  sacred 
relics  and  then  to  pass  on  out  of  the  shrine.  On  the  night 
in  question  three  Catholics  were  still  in  the  shrine,  when  the 
Greeks  entered.  The  first  made  his  three  genuflexions 
and  passed  on.  The  second  became  excited,  and  in  his 
confusion  made  four,  whereupon  the  Greeks  seized  the  third 
suppliant  and  insisted  that  he  should  only  make  two  genu- 
flexions, in  compensation  for  his  comrade's  excesses.  Other 
Roman  Catholics  ran  back  to  join  in  the  altercation,  and 
finally  a  free  fight  ensued,  which  became  so  violent  that  the 
Turkish  soldiers  were  obliged  to  lock  the  shrine  and  run  to 
fetch  the  Governor.  My  cousin  found  these  good  Christians 
pulling  each  other's  beards  out  and  scratching  each  other's 
faces  with  fearful  energy,"  Ismet  continued,  "and  it  was 
only  with  great  difficulty  and  after  sending  for  the  French 
Consul,  that  he  could  restore  order.  If  he  had  used  force 
and  some  of  them  had  been  hurt,  there  would  have  been  an 
outcry  in  your  papers  that  the  Turks  were  interfering  with 
Christians  in  the  celebrations  of  their  religion." 

I  was  very  much  amused  by  Ismet's  story,  and  begged 
him  to  tell  me  more  tales  of  Jerusalem,  so  after  a  little 
while  he  began. 

"  At  a  certain  time  of  the  year — I  think  it  is  during  your 
Bairam  (Easter) — Greek  pilgrims  gather  in  the  temple  to  light 
their  lamps  at  the  sacred  fire  which  is  supposed  to  burn  forth 
on  a  certain  day  by  divine  inspiration.  Sometimes  the 
pilgrims  wait  in  the  temple  for  days,  never  leaving  it  for 
one  instant,  and  praying  continually  for  the  sacred  fire  to 


THE  SACRED  FlRE  200 

burn.  Meanwhile  the  priests  go  round  telling  them  that 
the  difficulties  of  combustion  are  caused  by  their  parsimony 
in  giving  alms,  and  exciting  them  to  a  high  degree  of 
fanaticism.  The  people  grow  hysterical  from  much  fasting 
and  praying,  and  free  fights  often  ensue.  The  temple  also 
becomes  so  dirty,  and  the  stench  so  foul,  that  there  is  serious 
danger  of  disease  breaking  out. 

"  On  one  occasion,  a  few  years  ago  now,  things  got  so  bad 
and  the  priests  kept  the  people  waiting  so  long,  that  my 
cousin  sent  for  the  Greek  patriarch  and  said  to  him  : — *  If 
your  God,  whoever  he  may  be,  does  not  light  the  sacred 
fire  to-night,  I  shall  send  my  soldiers  to  clear  out  your 
temple.' " 

"  Well,  and  what  was  the  result  ? "  I  queried :  *•'  That  night," 
Ismet  concluded  with  a  smile,  "  A  thousand  happy  pilgrims 
lit  their  lamps  at  the  sacred  flame  amid  scenes  of  unparalleled 
rejoicing." 

Then  the  conversation  turned  on  the  question  of  chance. 

I  told  the  story  of  M Bey,  the  Governor  of  Pera,  who 

at  the  battle  of  Lule  Burgas  had  lost  300  men  of  his 
regiment  killed,  and  practically  all  the  rest  wounded,  while 
he  himself  had  sat  on  a  white  charger  all  through  the  battle 
and  had  escaped  unhurt.  "  His  escape  was  little  less  than 
miraculous,"  I  concluded. 

"  How  miraculous  ?  "  Ismet  replied.  "  It  is  written  in  the 
Book  of  Fate  that  he  should  escape."  Then  he  went  on  to 
tell  me  of  a  Mollah,  who  had  been  shaken  out  of  the  bracelet 
of  a  minaret,  while  proclaiming  the  Muezzin  during  the 
recent  earthquake,  and  who,  falling  into  the  basket  of  a 
melon  seller,  had  escaped  unhurt.  "It  is  Kismet,"  Ismet 
concluded.  "  The  destiny  of  every  man  is  written  in  the 
Book  of  Fate." 

Then  I  knew  that  Ismet,  too,  despite  his  western  education 
and  general  enlightenment,  was  a  believer  in  Kismet,  that 


210         WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

blind  faith  in  predestination,  which  has  strangled  the  energies 
and  vitality  of  his  race. 

Later  on  in  the  evening  Major  Vasfi  Bey,  who  was  in 
charge  of  the  correspondents,  sent  round  to  say  that,  as  the 
left  wing  of  the  Turkish  Army  had  suffered  a  reverse,  it  was 
impossible  for  us  to  remain  any  longer  in  Chorion,  and  that 
accordingly  we  must  leave  with  him  at  eight  o'clock  on  the 
following  morning  to  proceed  to  Cherkeskeuy,  and  thence 
to  Sarai.  He  gave  me  to  understand  that  the  object  of  the 
move  was  to  transfer  us  from  the  beaten  left  wing  of  the 
army,  to  the  right,  which,  he  said,  had  held  its  own.  I  was 
very  sceptical,  as  Cherkeskeuy  was  on  the  road  to  Constan- 
tinople, and  I  had  little  faith  in  his  statement  that  we  should 
advance  from  thence  to  Sarai.  1  had  also  been  told  by  a 
Turkish  staff  officer,  that  the  major  portion  of  the  beaten 
army  had  called  about  ten  miles  north  of  Chorlou,  and  was 
entrenched  there  with  a  view  to  offering  a  desperate 
resistance  to  the  Bulgarian  advance. 

So,  as  I  was  anxious  not  to  miss  the  battle,  I  decided 
not  to  leave  Chorlou  with  Major  Vasfi  and  the  other  corres- 
pondents. 

The  next  morning  it  was  raining  hard  when,  at  ten  o'clock, 
Major  Vasfi,  and  all  the  correspondents  he  could  collect, 
started  on  this  melancholy  ride  to  the  rear ;  nearly  all 
those  who  went  with  him  were  either  Frenchmen  or 
Germans ;  the  Enghsh,  being  of  a  more  adventurous 
disposition,  had  either  remained  behind  or  vanished  with 
their  despatches  after  the  battle  of  Lule  Burgas.  Most 
of  them  ultimately  rode  to  Rodosto  on  the  Sea  of  Marmora 
about  15  miles  from  Chorlou,  and  went  thence  by  sea 
to  Constantinople,  so  that,  with  the  exception  of  one 
German,  I  think  that  I  was  the  only  correspondent  to 
accompany  the  routed  army  on  its  terrible  retreat  to 
Chataldja. 


DESERTED   CHORLOU  211 

The  aspect  of  the  erstwhile  prosperous  Httle  town  of 
Chorlou  had  completely  changed.  All  the  shops  were  now 
closed  and  barred,  and  the  streets  deserted  by  the  inhabi- 
tants. Scores  of  hungry  wolfish  soldiers  were  wandering 
round  the  desolate  town  in  search  of  a  scrap  of  bread 
to  eat,  but  everywhere  they  found  the  doors  shut  and 
bolted  in  their  faces.  Several  soldiers  came  to  the  door 
of  our  inn,  which  had  been  left  temporarily  open.  Inside 
were  a  number  of  Greeks  and  a  few  Turkish  officers 
smoking  in  front  of  a  warm  fire,  and  drinking  coffee  or 
rakki.  The  men  stood  for  a  few  minutes  at  the  door, 
looking  with  envious  eyes  at  the  warm  room  and  at  the 
food  and  drink.  Then  the  Greek  proprietor  came  forward 
and  asked  if  they  had  money,  and  when  they  shook 
their  heads,  he  slammed  the  door  in  their  faces  and  bolted 
it.  I  expected  to  see  them  storm  and  pillage  the  inn, 
but  instead  they  just  slouched  off  in  the  rain,  shivering 
as  they  went.  Poor  wretches,  all  the  spirit  had  been 
starved  out  of  them,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  look 
of  patient  suffering  in  their  faces. 

All  Saturday,  more  and  more  hungry  soldiers  came  pour- 
ing into  Chorlou,  and  more  and  more  of  the  inhabitants  put 
up  their  shutters  and  fled  towards  the  coast.  The  two  old 
Greek  ladies,  in  whose  house  I  had  lodged  before  taking  up 
my  abode  over  the  stables,  came  to  me  in  tears  to  ask 
if  they  were  safe.  I  comforted  them  as  best  I  could,  but 
it  was  with  the  conviction  that  they  were  doomed. 

All  day  long  the  rain  came  down  in  torrents,  and  all  day 
long  I  sat  at  the  window  of  my  attic  watching  the  wrecks  of 
the  grand  army  dribble  through  the  town.  From  time  to 
time  there  was  a  loud  rumbling,  and  the  clatter  of  horses' 
hoofs  on  the  rough  cobble  stones,  as  a  gun  went  by  drawn 
by  six  tired  and  starving  horses. 

The  next  morning,  Sunday,  November  3rd,  the  rain  had 

p2 


212         WITH   THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

ceased,  and  at  dawn  I  rode  out  in  the  direction  of  Lule 
Burgas  to  see  the  last  stand,  which  I  beheved  to  be  imminent, 
accompanied  by  Bryant  and  a  young  Enghshman  who  was 
serving  as  a  volunteer  with  the  Turkish  Army.  The  road 
was  strangely  deserted  and  quiet ;  only  a  few  stragglers  in 
the  last  stages  of  exhaustion,  a  number  of  dead  horses  and 
broken  down  transport  wagons  were  to  be  seen. 

The  twenty-four  hours'  continual  rain  had  rendered  the 
rough  cart  tracks  a  sea  of  mud,  while  raging  streams  were 
tearing  along  the  bottom  of  what  had  been  dry  nullahs  when 
we  had  returned  from  Lule  Burgas  three  days  previously, 
and  several  times  we  were  in  water  up  to  our  saddle  girths, 
when  crossing  the  so-called  fords.  We  rode  for  about  ten 
miles  over  the  barren  table-land,  until  from  a  high  plateau 
we  got  a  view  of  the  country  for  fifteen  miles  around. 
There  was  no  sign  of  any  army,  nor  the  sound  of  a  single 
shot ;  only  in  the  distance  the  smoke  of  many  burning 
villages. 

In  that  moment  we  realised  that  the  Turkish  Army 
had  retreated,  leaving  Chorion  and  the  railway  wholly 
unprotected.  We  turned  and  rode  for  Chorion,  for  it  was 
evident  that  the  Bulgarians  might  at  any  time  come  down 
the  line  and  cut  off  our  retreat,  and  I  was  anxious  to  save 
both  myself  and  the  baggage. 

Chorion  in  a  few  short  hours  had  become  like  a  village 
of  the  dead.  Hadji,  the  old  Albanian  groom,  who  always 
seemed  to  know  by  instinct  what  was  going  to  happen, 
and  who  incidentally  regarded  us  as  quite  mad  for 
wanting  to  come  near  the  war — had  already  harnessed 
the  two  country-bred  ponies  into  the  Araba,  and  was 
awaiting  our  return  with  the  peculiar  impassiveness  of  his 
race. 

After  half  an  hour's  halt  to  feed  ourselves  and  the  horses, 
we  got  under  way,  and  by  noon  were  leaving  Chorlou  by 


"MAY  ALLAH   BLESS   YOU!"  213 

the  road  which  leads  to  Cherkeskeuy,  thirty  miles  to  the 
south-east. 

We  travelled  fast  and  soon  began  to  overtake  the 
remnants  of  the  army  tramping  to  the  rear,  and  all  the 
way  to  Cherkeskeuy,  a  march  of  thirty  miles,  this  long  line 
of  stragglers  continued.  The  men  were  trudging  along 
sullenly,  and  without  a  vestige  of  order.  Many  had  thrown 
away  their  rifles  and  ammunition,  others  were  wounded  and 
soaked  in  blood,  having  dragged  themselves  forty  miles  from 
the  dreadful  battlefield  of  Lule  Burgas.  Only  a  few  of  the 
latter  could  hope  to  escape,  for  in  their  weak  and  starving 
condition,  another  night  in  the  open  would  mean  death. 

I  saw  one  man  fall  by  the  roadside.  He  at  once  took 
off  his  boots,  which  were  in  good  condition,  and,  caUing  to 
a  comrade  who  was  staggering  along  in  bare  feet,  handed 
them  to  him  and  then  lay  down  to  die.  I  held  out  a  piece 
of  dry  bread  to  another  soldier,  and  he  snatched  it  eagerly, 
crying,  '*  May  Allah  bless  you !  I  have  eaten  nothing  for 
five  days."  Several  times  my  horse  shied,  and,  looking 
down,  I  saw  staring  up  at  me  with  wide  open  eyes  the  face 
of  some  dead  man  lying  half  buried  in  the  mud  and 
trampled  on  by  all  who  passed. 

Before  we  had  gone  very  far  it  came  on  to  rain.  The 
soldiers  around  us  presented  a  most  melancholy  spect^icle. 
Most  of  them  had  lost  all  their  kit.  Their  mud-bespattered 
grey  overcoats  were  in  rags,  and  they  wore  the  hoods  turned 
up  over  their  heads,  while  their  feet  were  wrapped  in 
sandals  which  they  had  cut  from  the  hide  of  some  dead  ox. 
Their  faces  were  covered  with  thick  black  beards,  and  were 
so  drawn  with  hunger,  privation,  and  horror  that  they  looked 
like  an  army  of  ghosts,  as  they  trudged  along  with  bent 
heads  and  shuffling  footsteps. 

The  track  lay  over  barren  hills,  and  the  rain  came  driving 
down   before  the  bitter  north-east    wind,  enveloping  the 


214         WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

remnants  of  the  Grand  Army  of  Thrace  in  grey  mist  clouds. 
Many  men  fell  by  the  roadside  to  die  from  exhaustion, 
exposure,  or  the  loss  of  blood  from  wounds  incurred  three 
days  before.  Others  more  fortunate  were  riding  lean  pack 
horses  or  donkeys  ;  aU  were  starving. 

Sickened  by  all  we  saw,  we  pushed  on  to  Cherkeskeuy, 
fuU  of  the  hope  that  there  the  fearful  ebb-tide  from  the 
battlefield  would  cease,  and  that  we  should  find  an  army 
ordered  and  prepared  for  battle.  But  as  we  marched,  the 
fine  of  stragglers  thickened,  and  the  confusion  increased, 
until,  just  as  it  was  growing  dark,  we  came  to  Cherkeskeuy, 
to  find  pandemonium,  but  no  army. 

Every  approach  to  the  station  was  blocked  by  artillery, 
ammunition  wagons,  transport  carts,  and  crowds  of  excited 
soldiers  and  refugees  fighting  their  way  towards  the  trains. 
In  a  sleeping  car  which  had  once  done  service  with  the 
Orient  express,  I  found  Nazim  Pasha  and  the  whole  of 
the  Headquarters  StaiF.  Behind  it  were  two  sumptuous 
motor-cars  on  open  trucks.  In  another  wagon-lit  were  aU 
the  military  attaches. 

The  four  other  trains  which  were  waiting  their  turn  to 
steam  off  down  the  single  line  of  railway  to  Constantinople, 
were  packed  as  I  have  never  seen  trains  packed  before. 
Women  and  children  were  piled  into  cattle  trucks  one 
above  another,  together  with  their  household  goods,  in 
such  a  manner  that  numbers  must  have  perished  from 
suffocation.  Other  women  with  young  children  strapped 
to  their  backs  were  running  about  like  frightened,  sheep, 
looking  in  vain  for  places  in  the  already  overcrowded 
trains.  I  saw  one  old  bearded  man  carrying  his  pretty 
young  wife  upon  his  shoulders.  Wounded  men  were  being 
thrown  pell-mell  into  second-class  carriages,  to  fall  hope- 
lessly on  the  floor  or  seats. 

I   met  Major  Vasfi,  in    charge  of   the   correspondents. 


POOR  VASFI  215 

He  was  in  a  great  state  of  excitement,  and  told  me  that 
he  was  going  off  to  Constantinople  with  all  the  corre- 
spondents he  had  been  able  to  collect — mostly  Frenchmen 
and  Germans.  At  that  moment,  a  young  Frenchman  came 
up,  and  as  usual  started  abusing  the  unfortunate  officer 
because  he  had  lost  some  of  his  baggage.  "  But,  Monsieur," 
the  ever  courteous  Major  Vasfi  replied,  "  Why  do  you 
blame  me  ?  In  war  it  is  every  man  for  himself,  and  besides,  I 
cannot  personally  look  after  each  correspondent's  luggage." 
Then  the  Frenchman  complained  because  the  officer  had 
brought  them  to  Cherkeskeuy,  and  they  had  nothing  to  eat. 
"  Monsieur,  you  forget!  that  the  whole  army  is  starving,  and 
how  can  I  feed  when  I  have  nothing  to  eat  myself?  " 

Major  Vasfi  then  offered  me  a  place  in  the  train  with  the 
other  correspondents,  but  I  refused,  sa5dng  that  I  could 
not  abandon  my  two  companions,  and  my  brother's  horses 
and  baggage  ;  so  he  bade  me  farewell  with  an  air  of  depress- 
ing finality,  murmuring  something  about  the  danger  from 
disorganised  soldiery. 

Then  I  chanced  on  Goupa,  the  dragoman  whom  I  had 
sent  on  from  Chorion  on  Friday  evening  with  the  heavy 
baggage  and  who  had  been  delayed  at  Cherkeskeuy  ever 
since.  He  was  in  a  state  of  great  excitement  and  terror,  and 
began  crying :  "  Monsieur,  I  love  you  as  my  son,  but  if  you 
do  not  come  in  this  train,  you  are  a  man  lost."  I  told  him 
not  to  be  a  fool,  and  he  then  started  to  tell  me  how  to  say 
in  Bulgarian :  "  Please  do  not  shoot  me,  I  am  a  harmless 
British  War  Correspondent." 

Night  had  by  now  set  in,  and  in  the  existing  state  of 
confusion  it  was  hopeless  to  attempt  to  move  with  the  cart 
to  the  village  of  Cherkeskeuy,  so  we  had  perforce  to  camp 
in  the  low-lying,  fever-haunted  ground  round  the  station. 
We  paddled  about  in  the  dark,  sinking  from  time  to  time 
well  above  our  ankles  in  filthy  mud  and  water,  until  we 


216  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

found  a  dry  spot — dry  only  by  comparison,  for  in  reality  it 
was  little  better  than  a  marsh. 

When  we  started  to  pitch  the  tent,  we  found  that  one 
of  the  tent  poles  had  disappeared,  and  it  took  us  over 
an  hour  improvising  an  impromptu  pole  with  the  shaft  of 
the  cart.  Then,  just  as  we  had  squatted  down  to  an  excellent 
dinner  of  tinned  meats,  for  1  had  saved  most  of  our  stores, 
there  was  a  crash,  the  sound  of  ripping  canvas,  and  the  head 
of  a  derehct  artillery  horse  appeared  through  the  side  of  the 
tent,  bringing  the  w^hole  thing  down  about  our  ears  with  a 
run.  I  appropriated  the  animal  by  way  of  compensation  for 
the  damage*d  tent,  but  in  the  morning  he  was  reclaimed  by 
some  angry  gunners. 

We  took  it  in  turns  to  keep  watch  over  the  horses  all 
night,  and  the  first  watch  fell  to  my  lot.  Hadji  had 
purloined  some  coal  from  the  station,  and  lighted  a  fire,  but 
even  so  the  cold  was  intense.  The  hill  beyond  the  station 
was  ablaze  with  a  thousand  camp  fires,  and  the  night  filled 
with  an  indescribable  medley  of  sound — the  shouting  and 
screaming  of  men  and  women  struggling  for  places  in  the 
trains,  the  incessant  whisthng  of  engines  crawling  slowly 
through  the  crowds  on  the  lines,  the  wailing  of  children 
exposed  to  the  bitter  cold,  and  the  ceaseless  coughing  of 
soldiers  Ipng  without  covering  or  shelter  in  the  foetid  marsh 
around  us.  From  time  to  time  hungry,  wolfish-looking  soldiers 
came  prowling  round  our  tent  in  search  of  loot,  only  to  dis- 
appear at  the  sight  of  my  revolver  like  shadows  in  the  night. 

Towards  midnight  there  came  a  great  wailing  from 
the  hill  behind  us,  and  turning  I  saw  the  village  of 
Cherkeskeuy  going  up  in  flames.  For  a  few  moments  the 
white  mosque  was  surrounded  with  a  halo  of  light,  and  then 
was  swallowed  up  in  black  clouds  of  smoke.  There  would 
be  no  stand  at  Cherkeskeuy,  and  at  dawn  we  struck  our  tent, 
and  trekked  off  in  the  direction  of  Chataldja. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   MIGRATION   OF   A    PEOPLE 

It  was  the  same  weaiy  spiritless  tramp  to  the  rear,  save 
that  now  most  of  the  sick  and  wounded  had  dropped  out  and 
perished.  There  was  not  a  vestige  of  order.  Some  of  the 
men  were  riding  on  donkeys,  others  on  broken-down  horses. 
The  majority  having  thrown  away  their  boots,  to  which 
they  were  not  accustomed  in  everyday  hfe,  were  trudging 
along  in  blood-stained  socks  or  bare  feet. 

There  was  no  complaining  ;  only  a  vast  silence  as  of  the 
grave,  until  I  felt  that  T  was  marching  in  the  midst  of  an 
army  of  corpses  without  souls.  A  field  gun  was  being  drawn 
by  two  horses  and  two  white  oxen.  Mingled  with  the  rabble 
of  soldiery,  were  thousands  of  bullock- wagons,  in  which  the 
mussulmans,  inhabitants  of  the  country,  were  driving  off  all 
their  worldly  goods  towards  Stamboul. 

It  was  the  migration  of  a  whole  people,  the  return  of  the 
Turks  to  Asia.  Barefooted  women,  in  bright-coloured, 
baggy,  cotton  trousers,  with  gaudy  yashmaks,  were  driving 
their  flocks  along  the  road,  and  httle  children  were  goading 
on  the  oxen.  Many  of  them  had  unfastened  their  veils,  and 
I  was  able  to  see  how  beautiful  they  were. 

One  magnificent  Georgian  woman,  with  skin  of  alabaster, 
proud  aquiline  features,  and  hair  of  burnt  gold,  was  sitting  in 
the  front  of  an  ox-wagon,  a  yellow  quilt  wrapped  around  her 


218  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

shoulders,  while  she  held  a  tiny  child  to  her  heart.  By  the 
side  of  the  wagon  walked  a  handsome,  old,  bearded  man,  with 
a  turban  of  green  and  rose.  They  were  the  living  image  of 
a  picture  of  the  flight  into  Egypt,  by  an  Italian  master, 
which  I  had  seen  some  years  ago — I  think  in  the  picture 
gallery  at  Dresden. 

Soon  after  leaving  Cherkeskeuy,  the  road  passed  into 
mountainous  country  covered  with  thick  oak  scrub.  It  is 
called  a  road  only  by  courtesy  and  became  completely  blocked, 
so  that  the  bullock-wagons  could  not  progress  more  than  a 
mile  an  hour.  Therefore,  had  the  Bulgarians  possessed 
adequate  cavalry,  in  a  position  to  push  on  after  the  battle  of 
Lule  Burgas,  they  might  have  captured  the  whole  of  this 
great  convoy  of  women  and  children,  together  with  the 
greater  part  of  fugitives  from  the  once  Grand  Army  of 
Thrace. 

About  ten  miles  out  we  came  to  a  spot  where  the  mud 
track  dived  precipitously  into  a  nullah  about  two  hundred 
yards  below,  and  then  mounted  almost  at  right  angles  on  the 
other  side.  Down  the  centre  of  the  nullah  a  torrent  was 
raging,  the  result  of  Saturday's  rain.  Three  field  guns,  each 
drawn  by  six  emaciated  horses,  were  about  to  essay  the 
passage  of  this  impasse.  The  first  gun  plunged  down 
the  slope  into  the  stream,  well  above  the  axles.  The 
horses  plunged  and  struggled  half-way  up  the  far  bank, 
then  one  of  the  wheelers  fell,  and  the  gun  and  horses 
slid  back  in  a  hopeless  jumble  into  the  torrent,  the  gun 
overturning  and  the  horses  kicking  and  plunging  in  wild 
confusion. 

The  major  in  charge  came  up  to  me  and  begged  for  a 
little  brandy,  and  I  handed  him  my  water-bottle  full  of 
whiskey.  He  told  me  that  he  had  commanded  the  eighteenth 
regiment  of  artillery.  For  two  days  they  had  fought  at  Lule 
Burgas  against  the  most  fearful  shrapnel  fire  that  he  had 


WHERE   ARE   THE   GUNS?  219 

ever  seen.  He  showed  me  the  shields  of  his  guns,  which 
were  battered  almost  out  of  shape. 

After  the  army  broke  up  on  the  fearful  night  of  the  31st, 
he  had  been  left  behind  with  the  rear-guard  to  cover  its 
retreat,  and  in  the  night  the  Bulgarian  cavalry  had  sur- 
rounded them.  "  They  captured  eighteen  of  my  guns,"  he 
said  ;  "  I  myself  only  just  escaped  with  these  three,  and 
now  I  must  abandon  them,  for  they  can  never  pass  these 
roads."  He  seemed  broken-hearted.  I  asked  him  to  ride 
on  with  us,  but  he  refused,  saying,  "  No,  I  will  stay  with 
my  guns.  You  had  better  push  on  as  fast  as  you  can. 
For  us  it  is  the  end.  But  what  would  you  ?  We  have 
no  roads,  no  food,  no   organisation." 

A  little  further  on  I  was  surprised  to  hear  myself 
addressed  in  excellent  French  by  an  emaciated  and  ragged 
private  soldier.  I  stopped  and  looked  hard  at  him.  It  was 
Macksoud  Bey,  a  young  Armenian  and  an  attache  at  the 
Foreign  Office,  who  had  volunteered  for  service  with  the 
army.  Although  one  of  the  richest  young  men  in  Constan- 
tinople, he  was  starving  on  the  roads  less  than  100  rniles 
from  the  capital.  He  told  us  that  he  had  been  marching 
for  sixty-five  hours  without  a  scrap  of  food  to  eat. 

Poor  Macksoud!  I  think  the  longest  walk  he  had  ever  taken 
in  his  life,  before  the  war,  was  from  the  Sublime  Porte  to 
Tokatlians,  where  he  was  in  the  habit  of  dining,  and  to  go 
there  he  generally  took  a  cab.  He  was  pretty  nearly  at  the 
end  of  his  powers  of  endurance,  but  we  gave  him  something 
to  eat  and  a  lift  in  the  cart.  Later  we  were  unfortunate 
enough  to  lose  sight  of  him  in  the  general  confusion.  I 
afterwards  learnt  that  he  had  developed  dysentery,  and 
would  have  died  on  the  road,  had  not  someone  put  him  in  a 
cart  and  brought  him  to  Constantinople,  where  he  recovered. 

Soon  afterwards  we  came  in  sight  of  the  railway.  As  far 
as  the  eye  could  see,  the  track  was  covered  with  soldiers 


220  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

taking  the  quickest  route  to  the  rear.  A  train  was 
approaching  from  the  direction  of  Cherkeskeuy — one  of  the 
last  to  leave  that  place.  It  was  drawn  by  two  powerful 
engines  which  steamed  at  a  snail's  pace  along  the  line, 
whisthng  continually  to  clear  a  way  through  the  rabble  on 
the  permanent  way.  Women,  children,  and  soldiers  were 
clinging  to  the  front  of  the  engines,  the  couplings  of  the 
carriages,  the  footboards — everywhere  where  they  could  get 
a  hold.  The  roofs  of  the  carriages  were  crowded,  and  the 
train  was  literally  festooned  with  humanity.  As  it  passed 
at  the  rate  of  four  or  five  miles  an  hour,  a  number  of  soldiers 
tried  to  board  it,  but  those  in  the  train  drew  their  bayonets 
to  prevent  them. 

Towards  evening  we  sighted  Sinekli,  after  a  day's  march 
of  only  ten  miles,  so  blocked  were  the  roads.  Just  outside 
the  station  I  was  accosted  by  a  fantastic-looking  individual 
riding  on  a  donkey.  He  was  a  very  fat  man  in  the  uniform 
of  a  colonel,  and  although  the  weather  was  fine  and  sunny, 
he  rode  beneath  the  shelter  of  an  umbrella.  He  told  me  that 
he  was  a  colonel  in  the  Army  Medical  Corps,  and  begged  me 
to  take  his  photograph,  which  I  did.  He  had  no 
surgical  instruments  ;  only  an  umbrella.  For  three  weeks 
he  had  been  wandering  about  the  country  completely 
lost,  in  search  of  the  army.  Now,  through  no  fault  of  his 
own,  he  had  found  the  army,  it  having  come  to  him,  so  he 
had  determined  to  return  to  Stamboul  and  there  to  await 
further  orders. 

I  asked  him  if  it  had  not  occurred  to  him  to  go  on, 
and  to  look  after  the  sick  and  wounded,  to  which  he 
replied :  "  What  good  can  I  do  ?  I  have  no  instruments, 
no  bandages,  no  medicines.  I  have  not  even  got  a  thermo- 
meter, only  an  umbrella."  I  gave  him  some  whiskey,  and 
he  introduced  me  to  a  Mend  of  his,  a  colonel  in  the  Army 
Service  Corps,  who  wanted  us  to  spend  the  night  with  them 


ONE  BOTTLE  OF  CHAMPAGNE  221 

in  a  shed  at  the  railway  station.  They  also  gave  our  horses 
shelter  in  another  shed,  and  gave  them  a  feed  of  barley,  for 
which  we  were  very  grateful,  horses'  fodder  being  extremely 
scarce. 

I  wanted  the  officers  to  dine  with  us,  and  we  made 
an  excellent  meal  of  a  pilaf  of  chicken  and  rice ;  the 
chicken  we  had  looted  on  the  way  down,  and  the  Army 
Service  Corps  colonel  gave  them  to  one  of  his  soldiers  to 
cook,  which  he  did  in  a  most  accomplished  manner.  We 
also  had  some  sardines,  a  tin  of  jam,  and  a  tin  of  apricots, 
the  latter  articles  being  very  much  appreciated  by  the  Turks, 
who  are  fond  of  all  sweet  things. 

They  had  spread  a  mat  of  honour  for  me,  on  which  I  had 
to  sit  cross-legged  and  dispense  hospitality.  The  climax  was 
reached  when  I  produced  a  bottle  of  champagne.  These 
two  old  men  then  shook  me  by  the  hand  and  swore  eternal 
friendship.  The  colonel  waxed  loquacious  under  the 
influence  of  the  champagne  and  many  libations  of  whiskey. 
He  told  me  that  he  had  been  one  of  Abdul  Hamid's 
physicians.  He  also  remembered  my  father — and  ended  up 
by  growing  quite  maudlin  at  the  memory  of  the  good  old  days, 
when,  under  Abdul  Hamid's  corrupt  regime,  he  was  able  to 
line  his  nest  with  golden  feathers  at  the  expense  of  the 
general  public. 

In  the  night  I  was  awakened  by  the  noise  of  someone 
moving  in  the  room,  and,  sitting  up,  I  saw  the  fat  colonel 
opening  my  packing  case  of  provisions,  and  taking  out  a 
bottle  of  whiskey,  the  major  portion  of  which  he  proceeded 
to  drink. 

Unable  to  sleep  again,  I  wandered  out  into  the  night. 
Sinekli  lies  very  high  and  the  whole  line  of  our  retreat  was 
marked  by  flame  and  smoke,  for  the  soldiers  were  burning 
the  villages  behind  them.  Soldiers  were  squatting  round 
fires,  which  they  fed  from  the  stacks  of  coal  in  the  station. 


222         WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

Further  on,  I  came  upon  a  large  encampment  of  refugees. 
The  children  were  crying  faintly,  for  it  was  bitterly  cold,  and 
their  sufferings  must  have  been  terrible,  as  they  were  only 
clad  in  thin  cotton  clothes.  A  number  of  women  with 
babies  in  their  arms  were  sitting  round  a  feeble  fire  which 
they  had  lighted  with  brushwood  and  straw ;  their  heads 
had  sunk  forward  on  their  breasts  and  they  slept.  Others 
lay  huddled  up  in  each  other's  arms  in  the  wagons,  or 
nestled  close  to  the  sleeping  oxen  in  search  of  a  httle 
warmth. 

At  dawn  we  left  for  Chataldja.  The  road  was  so  blocked 
by  the  bullock- wagons  of  the  refugees  that  I  decided  to  ride 
on,  leaving  the  cart  to  follow.  I  asked  Hadji,  the  Albanian 
groom,  whether  he  thought  that  he  could  bring  it  through 
safely,  whereupon  he  undid  his  waistcoat,  displaying  a  row 
of  knives  and  an  antiquated  revolver,  and  swore  by  the 
beard  of  the  Prophet  to  do  so  or  perish  in  the  attempt. 

We  now  took  to  the  railway  line,  but  even  here  progress 
was  slow,  so  dense  was  the  crowd  of  fugitive  soldiers  on  the 
line. 

About  15  miles  beyond  Sinekli  the  fugitives  suddenly 
began  to  run.  I  trotted  along  wondering  if  the  Bulgarians 
were  upon  us.  Then  1  heard  a  murmur  of  "  Eckmeck ! 
Eckmeck  I  "  (Bread  I  Bread  I),  and  round  a  bend  in  the  line 
we  came  upon  two  abandoned  truck-loads  of  bread,  for 
which  an  excited  crowd  of  soldiers  were  fighting  with  their 
bayonets. 

As  we  neared  Chataldja  our  spirits  rose,  as  we  heard  on 
all  sides  that  it  was  an  impregnable  position.  We  left  the 
railway  and  took  to  the  old  Roman  road,  which  wound  down 
a  green  valley,  between  great  purple  hills.  These  Roman 
roads  are  the  only  real  roads  that  the  country  boasts,  but  as 
the  Turks  have  never  even  bothered  to  keep  them  in  repair, 
the  great  square  paving  stones,  of  which  they  are  built,  have 


A    PHANTOM    ARMY  223 

sunk  in  places,  leaving  gaping  holes,  and  rendering  progress 
along  them  both  slow  and  dangerous. 

Three  miles  from  Chataldja  we  found  a  village  in  flames 
and  soldiers  looting  it  for  food,  and  our  spirits  began  to  sink. 
Then  we  came  to  Chataldja  itself,  nestling  on  the  slope  of  a 
great  bar  of  hills  which  block  half  the  valley  down  which  we 
had  been  riding.  Chataldja  was  deserted,  but  this  was 
not  surprising,  as  the  tovsni  itself  is  about  seven  mOes  in 
advance  of  the  so-called  lines  of  Chataldja. 

Nowhere  could  we  see  any  signs  of  an  army,  nor  signs  of 
a  camp,  nor  signs  of  a  fortified  position.  We  met  a 
lieutenant-general  riding  aimlessly  about  the  country 
followed  by  an  escort  of  four  orderlies  v^dth  lances,  and 
preceded  by  two  aides-de-camp.  He  told  us  that  he  had 
an  army  of  150,000  men  and  that  200,000  more  were 
coming  from  Constantinople.  Then  he  rode  off,  apparently 
in  search  of  something.  Poor  fellow,  he  was  looking  for  a 
phantom  army  which  existed  only  in  his  imagination. 

At  Chataldja  railway  station  we  found  the  usual  scene  of 
pandemonium  and  trains,  crowded  with  refugees  .  and 
wounded,  with  women  and  children  on  the  roofs  of  the 
carriages.  We  halted  for  an  hour  to  feed  the  horses  on 
some  chopped  straw  and  barley,  which  we  found  in  the 
station.  Some  cavalry  officers  invited  me  into  their 
carriage  and  gave  me  coffise  and  sweet  native  brandy  to 
drink.  Like  all  Turks,  they  were  courtesy  itself  They 
told  me  that  the  sufferings  of  the  women  and  children  on 
the  tops  of  the  railway  carriages  had  been  terrible,  many 
of  the  children  having  died  of  exposure  and  hunger  in  the 
night. 

While  we  were  talking  a  private  soldier,  wearing  a 
captain's  overcoat,  tried  to  enter  the  carriage.  A  major 
told  him  to  get  out  and  to  hand  over  the  coat,  which  he 
had  doubtless  pillaged  from  some  dead  officer's  body.     The 


224  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

man  refused,  whereupon  the  major  seized  the  coat,  but  the 
man  struck  him  and  the  officer  was  obhged  to  draw  his 
sword  in  self-defence. 

The  officers  seemed  broken-hearted.  They  said  that 
disciphne  had  ceased  to  exist,  and  repeated  the  old  cry 
which  we  had  heard  all  down  the  line — No  roads,  no  food, 
no  organisation.  They  advised  me  to  ride  on  to 
Hademkeuy  and  to  ask  the  commanding  officer  there  for 
an  escort,  as  the  roads  were  unsafe. 

A  few  miles  beyond  Chataldja  night  overtook  us  and  we 
became  completely  lost.  A  bitter  east  wind  was  blowing, 
and  it  began  to  rain  in  torrents.  We  were  chilled  to  the 
bone,  and  had  almost  abandoned  all  hope  of  finding  shelter 
for  the  night,  when  towards  midnight  we  sighted  a  blaze 
of  light  in  the  distance.  It  was  Hademkeuy,  and  the 
soldiers  had  set  fire  to  some  of  the  outlying  buildings  to 
keep  themselves  warm. 

We  tapped  at  the  door  of  a  shepherd's  wooden  hut, 
through  the  chinks  in  the  walls  of  which  we  could  see  a 
light  burning.  We  were  hospitably  received  by  some 
Turkish  officers,  who  invited  us  in,  set  us  down  before  a 
brazier  of  red-hot  coals  to  dry  our  clothes,  and  made  us  hot 
tea.  There  were  about  thirty  officers  and  men  in  the  hut, 
lying  on  the  mud  floor  wrapped  in  their  overcoats,  or 
squatting  about  smoking  cigarettes  and  narghilis.  They 
were  in  complete  ignorance  of  the  military  situation,  but,  as 
the  conversation  warmed,  I  told  them,  little  by  little,  of  the 
disaster  of  Lule  Burgas,  and  of  how  the  routed  army  was 
coming  back  on  them  in  a  state  of  complete  disorder. 

I  had  expected  the  awakening  of  strong  emotion,  some 
bitter  manifestation  of  grief.  But  instead  they  received  the 
news  quite  calmly  ;  one  or  two  of  them  exclaimed,  "  Allah, 
Allah ! "  and  then  sank  once  more  into  their  habitual 
apathy,  and  a  private  soldier,  who  was  squatting  on  the  floor 


KISMET !  225 

smoking  a  narghili  and  talking  to  his  colonel,  ceased  for  a 
moment  and  exclaimed,  "  Kismet !  "  Upon  which  they 
all — the  colonel  included — looked  at  the  soldier  as  though 
he  had  said  something  very  profound  and,  nodding  their 
heads,  repeated  his  exclamation  of  "  Kismet !  "  After  that 
they  seemed  to  forget  all  about  the  war,  and  became 
absorbed  in  the  study  of  us,  our  manners,  equipment,  and 
life  in  general. 

Hademkeuy  is  in  the  centre  of  the  so-called  lines  of 
Chataldja,  which  should  more  properly  be  called  the  lines 
of  Chekmedche  ;  a  natural  position  on  the  slope  of  the  hills 
stretching  from  the  head  of  Lake  Chekmedche  on  the  west 
to  the  head  of  lake  Derkos  on  the  east  in  the  shape  of  a 
semicircle,  the  concave  edge  presented  to  the  enemy.  The 
slopes  of  the  hills  are  clothed  with  several  lines  of  forts  and 
trenches,  which,  if  properly  defended,  should  offer  an  impreg- 
nable front. 

On  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  November  6th,  there  were 
few  signs  of  preparation  for  defence.  There  were  only  some 
four  thousand  troops  in  Hademkeuy,  of  which  the  majority 
were  wandering  about  the  village  in  a  semi-starved  condition, 
although  only  twenty  miles  from  the  capital.  The  remnants 
of  the  Army  of  Thrace  were  coming  back  toward  the  position 
and  would  begin  to  arrive  on  the  morrow,  but  it  seemed 
doubtful  whether  this  rabble  could  ever  be  reorganised  in 
time  to  offer  an  effective  resistance  to  the  enemy. 

In  the  end,  to  the  great  surprise  of  everybody,  the  slow- 
ness of  the  Bulgarian  advance  was  destined  to  give  the  Turks 
time  to  bring  up  a  fresh  army,  composed  almost  entirely  of 
Nizam  troops,  from  Asia  Minor — but  of  this  in  due  season. 

Later  we  rode  on  by  crazy  goat  paths  to  Constantinople, 
over  rugged  mountains  and  beautiful  green  valleys,  down 
which  veiled  women  and  little  children  were  driving  their 
flocks  of  silken-fleeced  sheep. 

Q 


226  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

We  halted  for  a  short  while  in  a  pretty  little  mountain 
village  called  St.  George.  Here  there  was  food  in  plenty, 
for  the  army  had  not  as  yet  passed  through  the  district,  and 
we  were  able  to  give  the  horses  a  much-needed  feed — they 
had  had  nothing  since  the  previous  day  at  noon.  We 
ourselves  were  not  much  better  off,  having  had  nothing  but 
a  few  sodden  biscuits  to  eat  during  the  last  twenty-four 
hours,  owing  to  our  unwise  generosity  in  sharing  what  small 
stock  of  provisions  we  carried  in  our  saddle-bags  with  hungry 
Turkish  officers  and  men,  and  to  the  non-arrival  of  Hadji 
with  the  cart  of  provisions. 

The  innkeeper  gave  us  rye  bread  and  a  bowl  of  steaming 
goat's  milk,  and  I  have  seldom  eaten  a  meal  that  tasted 
better.  While  we  ate,  the  inhabitants  of  the  village,  who 
were  nearly  all  Ottoman  Greeks,  and  who  appeared  to  have 
nothing  on  earth  to  do,  gathered  in  the  room  of  the  inn 
and  watched  us  eat  with  great  interest.  The  long-haired, 
chimney-pot-hatted  Greek  priest  also  came  to  bid  us 
welcome  to  the  village,  while  a  picturesque  Albanian  with  a 
white  cap  and  an  embroidered  waistcoat,  who  was  hung  all 
around  with  antiquated  knives,  pistols  and  cartridge  bando- 
liers, looked  with  longing  eyes  at  our  modern  revolvers,  and 
at  the  gold  coin  which  I  produced  to  pay  for  the  meal. 
Then  on  to  Stamboul. 

At  sunset  we  reached  the  hills  of  the  dead  on  the  outskirts 
of  the  city.  Around  us  stretched  hill  after  hill,  covered 
with  the  tombstones  of  the  long-forgotten  dead.  There 
were  some  stately  sarcophagi,  now  crumbling  to  ruin,  but 
for  the  most  part  the  tombstones  consisted  of  flat  slabs  of 
marble  or  stone.  The  majority  of  them  were  prostrate, 
piled  up  in  a  jumble  of  putrefaction  and  decay — thousands 
were  leaning  over  as  if  about  to  fall,  a  few  were  upright.  In 
the  half  light  of  the  evening  they  looked  like  myriads  of 
white  shrouded  ghosts,  streaming  forth  from  their  tombs  to 


THE   HILLS   OF   THE   DEAD  227 

share  in  some  ghastly  midnight  orgy.  Purple  shadows  were 
creeping  over  the  hills,  but  in  the  east  the  sky  was  a  sea  of 
blood  and  fire,  while  ahead  we  could  see  the  pale  silver 
outline  of  the  Golden  Horn  and  the  minarets  of  Stamboul. 

As  it  grew  darker  we  could  no  longer  see  the  path,  and 
our  horses  stumbled  over  the  broken  and  prostrate  tomb- 
stones, from  time  to  time  snorting  and  trembling  as  if 
oppressed  with  some  strange  fear  ;  nor  am  I  surprised,  for 
even  to  my  human  senses  it  seemed  as  if  myriads  of  ghosts 
were  stretching  forth  their  cold  fingers  to  drag  me  down  to 
the  realms  of  putrefaction.  Then  we  saw  figures  moving 
ahead  of  us,  and  as  we  got  closer,  found  that  this  ghost 
world  was  peopled  with  hundreds  of  women  and  children 
who  were  crying  faintly  as  if  weary,  hopeless,  and  hungry. 
They  were  refugees,  who,  debarred  entrance  into  the  city, 
had  taken  refuge  among  the  tombs,  where  soon  hunger, 
exposure,  and  disease  would  drive  many  of  them  to  find  a 
lasting  resting-place. 

We  rode  in  through  the  Adrianople  gate  at  Stamboul, 
down  the  narrow  streets,  past  the  Hippodrome  and  the  War 
Office,  across  the  bridge  into  Pera  and  then  on  to  the  Pera 
Palace  Hotel.  I  was  a  sorry-enough  looking  object ;  my 
horse  was  lame  and  exhausted  ;  my  khaki  suit  bespattered 
with  mud  and  torn  in  several  places,  while  1  had  a  fortnight's 
growth  of  a  miserable-looking  beard  on  my  chin.  As  I 
entered  the  hotel,  the  well-dressed  crowd  drew  back  before 
an  object  at  once  so  dirty  and  so  wild-looking,  and  the 
porter  came  forward  with  the  obvious  intention  of  asking 
me  to  leave,  when,  suddenly  recognising  who  I  was,  he 
received  me  with  open  arms. 

I  little  expected  to  see  my  brother  again  in  Constantinople 
after  his  flight  from  Chorlou  with  the  despatches,  and  was 
surprised  when  the  porter  informed  me  that  he  was  upstairs, 
having  returned  from  Constanza  only  a  few  hours  previously. 

q2 


228  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

I  went  upstairs  and  found  my  brother,  who  was  as  astonished 
to  see  me  as  if  I  had  been  a  man  who  had  returned  from  the 
grave. 

Little  remains  to  tell,  save  that  on  the  following  morning 
Hadji  arrived  with  the  cart,  which  in  one  week  those  two 
wonderful  little  black  horses  had  drawn  200  miles  up  hill 
and  down  dale,  through  rivers  and  seas  of  mud,  over  stony 
mountain  paths  and  through  raging  torrents. 

I  gave  Hadji  a  sovereign  for  his  pains,  whereupon,  in  the 
foyer  of  the  hotel,  he  kissed  my  hand,  saying  that  he  desired 
nothing  save  that  Allah  might  bless  and  protect  me,  and 
then  went  oif  to  buy  a  young  wife,  whom  he  had  long 
coveted — at  least  so  Goupa  assured  me,  and  Goupa  had  a 
long  record  of  mendacity  to  atone  for. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE    CAPTURE    OF   RODOSTO 

To  judge  from  the  description  which  my  brother  gave  me 
of  the  state  of  the  Turkish  Army  between  Chorion  and 
Chataldja,  I  thought  it  extremely  unlikely  that  the  fugitives 
would  ever  stop  at  the  famous  lines.  In  common  with 
almost  everyone  else  in  Constantinople,  I  expected  to  see  a 
mass  of  starving,  disbanded  soldiery  back  in  Stamboul,  and 
possibly  an  uprising  against  the  Christian  section  of  the 
inhabitants.  But  we  did  not  reckon  on  two  factors  which 
saved  the  situation.  The  first  was  the  extreme  sta  e  of 
exhaustion  of  the  fugitives,  which  caused  them  to  halt  at 
Hademkeuy,  where  an  eiFort  was  made  to  supply  them  with 
food,  and  the  second,  the  large  reinforcements  of  Nazim 
(regular  troops)  which  the  Turks  were  just  beginning  to 
bring  up  from  Smyrna  and  from  the  Armenian  frontier. 

These  men  were  pushed  to  the  front  with  great  rapidity, 
and  it  was  their  bayonets  which  finally  checked  the  rout  at 
the  lines  of  Chataldja.  But  for  nearly  two  weeks  after  the 
battle  the  situation  was  extremely  critical,  and  had  the 
Bulgarians  been  able  to  follow  up  their  victory  more 
quickly,  they  would  have  encountered  no  organised 
resistance,  and  a  few  rounds  from  the  dreaded  Creusot  field 
guns  would  have  started  all  the  fugitives  on  the  run  once 
again,  and  even  if  the  fresh  arrivals  from  Asia  had  put  up  a 


230  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

good  fight,  they  were  not  numerous  enough  at  this  time  to 
check  an  attack  in  force. 

Nazim  Pasha,  the  Minister  of  War,  left  Constantinople 
and  took  up  his  quarters  at  Hademkeuy,  living  in  a  railway 
train  just  outside  the  town.  It  was  at  this  time  that  we  first 
learnt  of  the  outbreak  of  cholera  at  the  front.  It  originally 
started  amongst  the  troops  of  the  3rd  Army  Corps  at  Viza, 
having  been  brought  from  Asia  by  the  fresh  battalions.  But 
it  was  not  amongst  the  fresh  arrivals  that  it  made  its  greatest 
ravages,  but  amongst  the  unfortunate  survivors  of  Lule 
Burgas. 

These  men  had,  by  the  time  they  reached  Chataldja,  been 
practically  starving  for  ten  days,  their  only  food  consisting 
of  raw  mealie  cobs  and  anything  they  could  pick  up  in  the 
countryside.  They  were  thus  in  a  terribly  weak  state, 
and  fell  easy  victims  to  the  great  epidemic,  which  spread  with 
extraordinary  and  almost  uncanny  rapidity  throughout  the 
whole  countryside.  Not  only  were  they  swept  away  in 
thousands  by  cholera,  but  also  by  dysentery  and  enteric,  and 
many  cases  of  dysentery  were  put  down  as  cholera.  It 
mattered  little  whether  the  unfortunate  Anatolian  peasant 
paid  his  last  debt  to  his  country  by  one  or  by  the  other 
of  these  diseases. 

The  news  of  the  rout  of  Lule  Burgas  caused  the  utmost 
consternation  in  diplomatic  circles.  A  general  attack  on  all 
Europeans  was  feared,  and  warships  were  hastily  demanded. 
Each  nation  sent  two,  and  more  than  three  thousand  blue- 
jackets were  landed  and  remained  on  duty  until  after  the 
signing  of  the  armistice.  It  was  doubtless  a  wise  and 
necessary  precaution,  in  view  of  the  bloody  history  of  Con- 
stantinople, but,  as  all  remained  perfectly  peaceful,  it  did 
look  a  little  absurd  to  see  the  Embassies  protected  by  armed 
men,  and  with  machine  guns  behind  sand  bags  on  the  roofs. 
The  Turks  looked  on  and  smiled,   and  on  the  whole  the 


ART   DEALERS  231 

bluejackets  were  extremely  popular  with  the  local  towns- 
people. 

The  prospect  of  the  taking  of  Constantinople  and  the 
possible  looting  of  the  town  attracted  art  dealers  from  all 
over  the  world.  They  hoped  that  the  priceless  heirlooms 
contained  in  the  Museum,  the  mythical  hordes  of  gold 
and  silver  ware,  and  heaps  of  unknown  but  suspected 
jewels,  including  the  famous  Persian  throne,  would  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  looters,  who,  in  turn,  would  be 
only  too  pleased  to  part  with  them  for  a  tenth  of  their 
value  for  cash  down.  As  day  by  day  went  by  and  only  a 
comparatively  small  number  of  fugitives,  who  were  easily 
kept  in  hand,  returned  to  Constantinople  from  the  front,  the 
disappointment  was  keen,  and  these  gentry,  who  had  come 
so  far  to  fill  Bond  Street,  the  Rue  de  la  Paix,  and  Fifth 
Avenue  with  the  spoils  of  Byzantium,  went  away  very 
disapppointed. 

I  think  almost  every  European  and  certainly  every  war 
correspondent  hoped  to  see  the  triumphal  entry  of  King 
Ferdinand,  at  the  head  of  his  legions,  into  Constantinople. 
This  was  needed  to  give  a  grand  dramatic  finale  to  the 
campaign.  There  were  many  who  wished  to  be  present 
at  the  solemn  ceremony  of  substituting  the  Cross  for 
the  Crescent  on  the  dome  of  Saint  Sofia.  Many  well- 
known  writers  commenced  their  accounts  of  the  march  of 
Ferdinand's  legions  through  the  Golden  Gate,  and  the  exit 
of  the  Turks  into  Asia  Minor  after  an  occupation  of  six 
hundred  years. 

It  seemed  to  us,  who  had  come  straight  from  the  battle- 
field, that  the  Bulgarians  could  perform  any  miracle  or  feat 
of  arms  they  chose.  They  appeared  now  as  a  mythical 
monster,  who  had  only  to  open  his  jaws  and  swallow  up 
whole  tracts  of  country  and  whole  armies.  It  seemed 
incredible   that  the  beaten  Turk,  worn-out,   starving,   and 


232  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

hopelessly  mismanaged,  could  ever  again  rally  or  offer  any 
resistance  in  the  field.  For  a  few  days  it  was  continuously 
rumoured  that  the  Bulgarians  had  swept  past  Chataldja  and 
were  hammering  at  the  gates  of  the  city.  But  it  took  a 
very  short  time  for  these  wild  fancies  to  pass,  and  then 
those  of  us  who  settled  down  to  examine  the  situation 
calmly  and  dispassionately,  soon  realised  that  it  would  be 
quite  impossible  for  the  Bulgarian  armies  to  advance  against 
Chataldja  for  a  very  considerable  period  of  time. 

The  distance  from  Lule  Burgas  to  Chataldja  is,  I  believe, 
some  hundred  and  forty  kilometres.  This  takes  time  for  an 
army  to  travel,  more  especially  in  a  country  where  there  are 
no  roads  and  where  the  railway  is  no  longer  available.  We 
knew  the  Bulgarians  must  be  absolutely  exhausted  after 
their  prolonged  exertions,  and  that,  before  they  could  risk 
an  advance  on  the  capital,  they  would  have  to  look  after  the 
immense  number  of  wounded  on  their  hands,  replenish 
their  ammunition  supply,  and  entirely  reorganise  their 
commissariat,  so  as  to  be  able  to  feed  a  large  army,  three 
hundred  miles  away  from  its  base,  in  a  country  which  had 
already  been  swept  by  the  ravages  of  war  and  which  could 
offer  them  nothing. 

Then,  again,  we  knew  they  had  Adrianople  on  their 
hands,  and  there  were  some  who  were  of  the  opinion 
that  they  would  rest  content  with  having  driven  the 
Turks  back  to  Chataldja  and  would  now  concentrate  all 
their  efforts  on  taking  the  fortress,  using  the  army 
which  had  been  successful  at  Lule  Burgas,  as  a  covering 
force. 

In  these  circumstances,  Donohoe  and  myself  decided 
it  would  be  useless  to  go  to  the  lines  of  Chataldja  for  some 
days,  and  that  we  would  learn  more  by  hovering  on  the 
flank  of  the  army,  or  even  by  remaining  between  the 
advancing  Bulgarians  and  the  retiring  Turks.     We  there- 


SALVING   THE   MOTOR  233 

fore  decided  to  leave  for  Rodosto  by  the  first  available 
steamer.  Our  main  object  in  going  there  was  to  recover 
our  motor-car,  which  we  had  left  in  charge  of  Mr.  Streater, 
the  Consul,  and  also  of  Donohoe's  dragoman. 

We  felt  it  was  of  the  utmost  importance  to  bring  the  car 
to  Constantinople,  so  as  to  be  able  to  pass  rapidly  to  and  fr6 
between  the  city  and  the  lines  of  Chataldja,  and  also  to  have 
it  at  our  disposal  for  the  rapid  dispatch  of  cables  from  the 
front.  Therefore  on  Saturday,  November  9th,  we  left 
Constantinople  in  a  small  steamer  for  Rodosto,  where  we 
arrived  the  same  evening  at  5  p.m. 

On  our  arrival  at  this  prosperous  little  port,  we  found 
many  Turkish  merchant  vessels,  both  steamers  and  sailing 
craft,  anchored  in  the  roadstead,  together  with  the  old 
Turkish  battleship  "  Masudia  "  and  a  torpedo-boat. 

All  was  quiet,  as  the  Bulgarians  had  not  yet  approached 
the  town,  although  their  presence  within  eight  kilometres 
(five  miles)  had  been  reported.  There  was,  therefore,  a 
strong  undercurrent  of  unrest  running  throughout  the 
Levantine  population,  whilst  hundreds  of  others  were  only 
awaiting  some  means  of  transportation. 

On  my  arrival  I  dined  with  Mr.  Streater,  at  whose 
house  I  found  Lionel  James,  who  kindly  gave  me  a  resume 
of  all  that  had  passed  since  my  departure  for  Constantinople. 
I  learned  definitely  that  the  Bulgarians  had  not  occupied 
Chorion  until  Thursday  night,  November  7th ;  up  to 
which  day  a  small  force  of  Turks,  remnants  from  the 
field  of  Lule  Burgas,  had  remained  in  possession,  but  had 
retreated  on  Chataldja  on  the  approach  of  the  enemy's 
cavalry.  The  Turkish  force,  which  numbered  about  3,000, 
was  composed  of  some  infantry  and  the  remainder  of  Sali 
Pasha's  independent  cavalry  division.  I  also  learned  that  a 
large  force  of  Servians,  with  artillery,  had  been  seen  passing 
through  Muradli,  evidently  with  the  purpose  of  strengthen- 


234  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

ing  the   Bulgarian   army   in    its   assault   on   the    lines    of 
Chataldja. 

The  proximity  of  the  Bulgarians  at  Chorlou  had  natur- 
ally aroused  the  alarm  of  the  citizens  of  Rodosto,  who  had 
been  expecting  a  visit  from  the  enemy  all  the  previous  week. 
On  Thursday,  November  7th,  the  advance  posts  of  the 
enemy  were  reported  to  be  only  seven  kilometres  off  on  the 
Rodosto- Muradli  road,  and  therefore,  after  a  consultation 
with  the  foreign  Consuls,  the  heads  of  the  various  religious 
communities,  who  make  up  these  Levantine  towns,  sinking 
their  life-long  quarrels  on  dogma  in  the  face  of  the  common 
danger,  sallied  forth  for  the  first  time  in  their  lives  with  a 
common  policy,  namely,  formally  to  hand  over  Rodosto  to 
the  enemy.  Unfortunately,  on  their  arrival  where  the 
Bulgarians  had  been  reported,  they  found  no  trace  of  the 
invader,  and  were  obliged  to  return  to  the  town  with  their 
formal  act  of  submission  unaccomplished. 

On  Friday,  November  8th,  the  battleship  "  Masudia," 
together  with  a  torpedo-boat,  arrived  off  the  port,  and  the 
military  authorities  under  Colonel  Remzi,  either  on  receipt 
of  instructions  from  Constantinople  or  else  gaining  confidence 
from  the  big  guns  of  the  warship,  decided  to  defend  the  town, 
in  spite  of  the  sustained  supplications  of  the  united  divines. 

This  was  the  position  on  our  arrival  on  Saturday  night, 
November  9th.  We  found  our  motor  safe  where  we  had 
left  it,  and  on  Sunday  morning  Donohoe  and  myself 
motored  out.  We  found  the  Turkish  advance  posts  just 
outside  the  town,  but  they  made  no  effort  to  stop  us,  and 
we  motored  on  for  another  mile,  when,  on  some  high  ground 
we  discovered  a  line  of  vedettes,  whose  soldierly  bearing  and 
military  formation  aroused  our  suspicions  as  to  their  identity. 
We  therefore  alighted  from  the  car,  turned  it  hastily  round, 
so  as  to  be  ready  for  immediate  retreat,  and  examined  them 
at  our  leisure. 


i 


THE   "MASUDIA  "  235 

Beyond  a  doubt  they  were  Bulgarians,  and  as  we  were 
only  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away  from  them,  we  hastily  retired 
to  the  line  of  the  Turkish  outposts.  Here  a  further  examin- 
ation showed  Rodosto  to  be  completely  surrounded  by  the 
enemy's  cavalry,  and  all  the  roads  radiating  from  it  cut  off. 
Here  we  also  encountered  Colonel  Remzi,  the  commandant, 
who  informed  us  that  he  intended  to  defend  Rodosto  with 
the  aid  of  the  warship.  The  force  at  his  disposal  was  quite 
adequate  for  such  a  task,  consisting  of  isolated  detachments 
from  the  2nd  Army  Corps,  some  of  whom,  after  the  debacle 
at  Lule  Burgas,  had  taken  the  road  to  Rodosto  to  make 
good  their  escape,  rather  than  the  common  line  of  retreat  to 
Chataldja. 

Together  with  some  gendarmes  and  old  reservists  collected 
in  the  town,  the  total  force  at  Colonel  Remzi's  disposal 
numbered  about  1,000  men.  Of  these,  only  about  half  were 
properly  armed,  the  rest  carrying  old,  obsolete,  worn-out 
Martini  and  Gras  rifles.  The  Turks,  with  their  customary 
apathy,  were  leaving  everything  to  chance  and  making  no 
effort  to  entrench  their  position,  preferring  to  save  themselves 
this  unpleasant  labour,  but  utilising  some  petty  rises  in  the 
ground,  or  else  hiding  behind  the  outer  houses  of  the  town. 
There  was  no  scheme  of  defence,  no  supplies  of  reserve 
ammunition,  no  guns,  and  no  dressing  stations. 

We  then  returned  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Streater  to  lunch, 
and  had  just  sat  down  when  a  mighty  roar  from  one  of  the 
guns  of  the  "  Masudia  "  brought  everyone  to  his  feet.  This 
was  followed  by  a  series  of  broadsides  from  the  four-inch  and 
eight-inch  guns  of  that  vessel,  which  shook  every  house  in 
the  town  and  caused  an  almost  indescribable  panic  amongst 
the  Greek  and  Armenian  population.  There  was  a  general 
stampede  of  gesticulating  men,  panic-stricken  women,  and 
howling  children  towards  the  Consulates,  which  are  all 
situated  close  together  on  the  sea  front. 


236  WITH   THE   TURKS    IN   THRACE 

Never  have  I  seen  an  entire  population  so  scared.  They 
tumbled  over  one  another  to  obtain  shelter  under  the  foreign 
flags,  and  every  time  a  gun  of  the  "  Masudia  "  thundered 
forth,  it  was  followed  by  a  prolonged  echo  of  shrieks, 
howls,  groans,  and  wailing,  such  as  only  a  mixed  Levantine 
community  can  produce  in  times  of  trouble.  Lionel  James, 
Donohoe,  and  myself  did  our  best  to  calm  the  fear  of  the 
women  and  children,  but  for  some  time  with  little  effect,  the 
populace  not  being  able  to  discriminate  between  a  gun  being 
fired  and  a  bursting  shell,  and  thinking  the  Bulgarians  were 
shelling  the  town.  But  after  a  time,  the  novelty  of  the 
sound  having  worn  off,  the  tears  were  dried,  the  men 
ventured  to  saunter  forth  into  the  streets,  and  the  women, 
pressing  their  children  closely  to  them,  took  shelter  in  the 
cellars. 

We  were  besieged  with  anxious  inquiries.  Would  the 
enemy  fire  on  the  town?  Would  the  warship  bombard 
the  town  ?  \\^ould  the  Bulgarians  take  it  by  assault  ?  Would 
there  be  a  general  massacre  ?  Of  course  we  replied  in  the 
negative,  without  having  great  faith  in  our  own  optimism. 

About  two  o'clock  the  sound  of  rifle  fire  from  all  sides  of 
Rodosto  showed  that  the  enemy  were  approaching,  and  soon 
the  defenders  were  replying  vigorously.  Having  calmed 
the  populace,  we  climbed  the  highest  pinnacle  to  view  the 
engagement.  We  saw  the  Turkish  outposts  rapidly  retiring, 
firing  at  long  range  on  the  Bulgarian  or  Servian  infantry. 
I  am  unable  to  say  to  which  army  they  belonged.  It  was  a 
pathetic  sight  to  watch  the  blue-coated  gendarmes  doing 
their  best  to  keep  off  the  invaders  with  rifles  out  of  date 
twenty  years  ago,  and  sending  up  great  columns  of  smoke 
after  each  discharge. 

The  Bulgarians  developed  a  strong  attack  on  the  west  of 
the  town  over  ground  which  gave  them  considerable  cover, 
but  the  Turkish  regulars  in  this  quarter  vahantly  held  their 


A   HOT   CORNER  237 

own,  encouraged  rather  than  materially  assisted  by  the 
deafening  broadsides  from  the  "  Masudia,"  which  fired  all 
her  guns  at  objects  the  marksmen  could  not  possibly  see, 
and  with  little  harm  to  the  enemy,  but  which  only  served 
still  further  to  terrify  the  good  citizens.  In  fact,  it  seemed 
as  if  the  Turkish  sailors,  in  their  efforts  to  reach  the  enemy, 
would  blow  off  the  upper  stories  of  the  houses  near  the 
seashore,  and  some  of  the  Consuls,  to  avoid  this  contingency, 
took  down  their  flags,  which  were  facing  landwards,  and 
hoisted  them  seawards,  to  remind  the  '*  Masudia,"  which 
was  evidently  revelling  in  this  opportunity  of  distinguishing 
herself,  of  her  international  responsibilities. 

The  engagement  now  became  hotter,  and  Donohoe  and 
myself,  having  captured  our  chauffeur,  who,  evidently 
anticipating  some  such  move,  had  carefully  hidden  himself, 
entered  our  car,  and  motored  out  towards  the  Muradli 
road.  Having  turned  the  car  round,  and  leaving  it  under 
cover,  we  joined  the  advanced  Turkish  posts,  which  were 
firing  from  behind  houses,  chiefly  without  even  looking  over 
the  walls  or  taking  aim.  It  was  evident  that  Rodosto  could 
be  carried  at  any  moment  the  enemy  developed  a  sufficient 
force  at  any  one  point,  but  throughout  the  afternoon  they 
contented  themselves  with  feeling  the  position,  and  evidently 
were  without  artillery,  as  they  made  no  effort  to  fire  on  the 
"  Masudia  "  or  on  the  town. 

The  moment  our  car  had  moved  to  the  front,  the  Turkish 
unemployed,  men  and  boys,  gained  courage  and  followed 
us  in  hundreds  to  the  firing  line,  saying  they  were  quite 
safe  as  long  as  they  remained  with  Englishmen.  But  this 
concentration,  which  we  tried  in  vain  to  break  up,  speedily 
attracted  the  enemy's  fire,  and,  thinking  discretion  the 
better  part  of  valour,  we  retreated  to  the  motor-car, 
followed  by  the  whole  crowd,  running  as  fast  as  their  legs 
would  carry  them. 


238  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

For  some  time  the  car  stuck  and  refused  to  move,  but 
fortunately  the  defence  held  good,  and  we  got  her  back 
to  the  Consulate.  The  enemy's  bullets  were  now  whistling 
in  hundreds  over  the  tops  of  the  houses,  and  hardly  a  soul 
was  to  be  seen,  all  having  taken  to  their  cellars,  but  the 
"  Masudia's "  guns  still  thundered  forth,  and  the  enemy, 
uncertain  what  force  was  on  his  front,  did  not  press  home 
and  carry  the  outskirts  with  the  bayonet. 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  a  number  of  Turkish 
vessels,  steamers,  and  sailing  ships  were  anchored  in  the 
roadstead  early  in  the  day,  engaged  in  taking  off  refugees. 
As  soon  as  the  "  Masudia  "  started  shooting  they  all,  without 
exception,  hauled  up  their  anchors  and  made  for  Constanti- 
nople, leaving  Rodosto  to  look  after  itself. 

We  three  English  correspondents  thus  found  ourselves  in 
an  awkward  position,  as  we  had  no  means  of  escape,  and 
should  the  town  be  taken  by  the  Bulgarians,  we  would 
become  prisoners  of  war,  and  thus  cease  to  be  of  any  further 
utility  to  our  respective  papers.  We  tried  to  secure  a 
sailing  ship,  a  fishing  smack,  or  even  a  rowing  boat,  but 
in  vain,  and  things  were  looking  extremely  black  for  us 
when  about  five  o'clock  the  "  Marmora "  mail  boat,  flying 
the  French  flag,  put  into  the  port,  anchoring  a  long  way 
out. 

Immediately  there  was  a  rush  of  refugees  to  make  their 
escape  in  small  boats  to  her.  Thanks  to  the  French  agent, 
we  secured  a  boat,  and  were  allowed  to  leave  after  a 
prolonged  parley  with  the  authorities,  who  required  passes 
from  us.  Our  departure  was  the  signal  for  a  fresh  panic,  as 
those  citizens  of  Rodosto  attributed  it  to  fear  alone.  There 
was  a  general  rush  for  the  quays,  but  the  soldiers,  hearing 
that  the  "  Marmora  "  express  was  already  crowded,  refused  to 
allow  others  to  embark,  which  caused  the  wildest  lamenta- 
tions.    With  the  utmost  difficulty,  and  by  sheer  fighting. 


IMPLORING   A   PASSAGE  239 

we  reached  the  ship  and  fought  our  way  aboard.  The 
gangway  was  then  hoisted. 

From  that  moment,  until  we  sailed,  a  crowd  of  boats 
hovered  round  us,  the  refugees  imploring  to  be  taken  on 
board,  and  offering  to  pay  any  sum  for  a  passage  ;  but  as  the 
boat  is  built  to  carry  about  200  persons,  and  some  1,600 
were  crowded  on  her,  the  captain  remained  adamant.  When 
his  decision  became  known  a  perfect  babel  of  discordant 
cries,  shrieks,  curses,  and  prayers  arose  from  the  darkness, 
which  had  now  settled  over  this  unpleasant  scene,  and  lasted 
until  we  sailed.  Some  in  their  desperation  tried  to  climb 
up  the  sides,  abandoning  their  baggage,  their  friends,  and 
relatives. 

The  "  Masudia  "  continued  her  bombardment  until  night- 
fall, and  almost  the  last  shot  she  fired  burst  prematurely, 
sweeping  the  harbour  with  fragments  of  an  8-inch  shell.  We 
were  obliged  to  abandon  our  motor-car,  and  Lionel  James 
was  also  obliged  to  abandon  his,  to  the  care  of  the  British 
Consul,  hoping  to  ship  them  to  Constantinople  under  more 
peaceful  conditions,  if  the  enemy  did  not  seize  them  as  spoils 
of  war.  I  learnt  later  from  a  refugee,  who  came  by  an 
Italian  ship  which  called  at  Rodosto  after  our  departure,  that 
the  miUtary  authorities  had  temporarily  commandeered  our 
cars  to  carry  petrol  to  the  Turkish  quarter  of  the  town,  as 
they  intended  to  burn  it  down  if  the  Bulgarians  attempted 
to  enter. 

Neither  James,  Donohoe,  nor  myself  were  ever  destined  to 
have  another  ride  in  our  cars  during  the  campaign,  and  I  am 
extremely  doubtful  if  we  shall  ever  see  them  again.  When 
we  left  Rodosto  we  placed  them  in  charge  of  Streater, 
the  Consul,  and  also  left  Donohoe's  dragoman  and  our 
chauffeur  with  instructions  to  ship  them  by  the  first  avail- 
able steamer  to  Constantinople.  Our  former  chauffeur, 
whom  we  had  with  us  at  Lule  Burgas,  had  had  enough  of 


240  WITH   THE   TURKS    IN   THRACE 

the  campaign  and  ran  away  to  Roumania,  and  we  never  saw 
him  again.  We  were  therefore  obhged  to  obtain  another  in 
Constantinople,  and  we  took  this  man  with  us  to  Rodosto. 
Sunday  evening,  November  10th,  was  the  last  time  we  have 
ever  heard  of  or  seen  either  the  car,  the  chauffeur,  or  the 
dragoman.  The  protection  of  the  Consul  was  of  little  use, 
as  Streater  left  his  post  early  on  Monday  morning,  November 
11th,  and  decided  he  would  be  more  safe  and  comfortable  in 
Constantinople.  Two  days  later  the  Bulgarians  occupied 
the  town. 

After  this,  all  remains  a  blank,  and,  up  to  the  time  of 
writing  we  have  never  heard  a  single  word  from  either  the 
chauffeur  or  the  dragoman,  neither  have  their  despairing 
mothers,  wives,  sisters,  and  children  in  Constantinople. 
The  mystery  is  almost  inexplicable,  unless  both  were  seized 
as  prisoners  and  sent  back  to  Bulgaria.  Of  course  there 
remains  the  alternative  that  they  may  be  dead.  But  who 
would  kill  them?  If  they  are  alive,  why  have  they  not 
written,  if  not  to  us,  at  least  to  their  wives  ?  Steamers 
have  called  there  many  times  since,  and  I  believe  a  regular 
service  was  resumed  after  the  signing  of  the  armistice,  but 
not  a  sign  has  either  of  these  men  made  to  anyone  of  his 
safety. 

Of  course  it  is  useless  to  comment  on  the  fate  of  the 
cars,  until  we  know  what  has  become  of  those  who  were 
left  in  charge  of  them.  Perhaps  they  are  running  cheap 
trips  to  the  neighbouring  battlefields.  Perhaps  the  Bul- 
garians have  forced  them  to  work  in  their  service,  and  our 
beautiful  Panhard  may  now  be  conveying  some  Savoff  or 
Popoff  on  his  daily  rounds.  Personally,  I  am  not  very 
hopeful  of  ever  seeing  it  again. 

We  had  a  terrible  time  after  our  return  to  Constanti- 
nople, and  until  we  finally  escaped  to  England,  trying  to 
comfort  the  wives,  famiUes,  friends,  and  relatives  of  these 


THE   CAPTURE   OF  RODOSTO  241 

two  men.  They  would  besiege  the  Pera  Palace  Hotel, 
begging  us  for  information  which  we  were  quite  unable  to 
give  them.  Sometimes  in  their  frenzy  they  declared  we 
knew  they  were  dead  and  were  merely  concealing  the 
truth.  What  could  we  do  ?  We  knew  no  more  than 
they  did. 


CHAPTER   XVIIl 

THE   CHOCOLATE    SOLDIER 

On  Wednesday,  November  13th,  Donohoe,  my  brother, 
and  myself  left  Constantinople  for  the  lines  of  Chataldja. 
The  appearance  of  the  city  was  even  more  desolate  than 
before  we  had  left  to  join  the  Grand  Army  of  Thrace.  The 
last  vestige  of  wheeled  traffic  had  disappeared  from  the 
streets,  and  Stamboul  had  more  than  ever  the  appearance  of 
a  plague-stricken  city.  The  gold-merchants,  the  dealers  in 
precious  stones,  and  all  those  who  traded  in  wares  of  value, 
had  removed  their  goods  from  the  bazaars  to  the  vaults  of 
the  foreign  banks ;  for  there  was  considerable  apprehension 
among  certain  sections  of  the  community  lest,  in  the  event 
of  the  lines  of  Chataldja  being  forced  by  the  Bulgarians, 
the  routed  Turkish  soldiers  would  pillage  and  burn  the  city, 
sooner  than  allow  it  to  fall  once  more  into  the  hands  of 
Christians. 

The  Turkish  Cabinet  itself  was  doubtful  as  to  whether 
an  effective  resistance  could  be  offered  to  the  enemy  at 
Chataldja,  so  disheartening  were  the  reports  of  disorder  and 
disease  among  the  remnants  of  the  Grand  Army  of  Thrace. 
Even  Nazim  Pasha  at  one  time  gave  way  to  the  general 
despondency  and  declared  that  he  could  not  hold  the  lines, 
and  on  Sunday,  November  10th,  the  Cabinet  seriously 
discussed  the  advisability  of  abandoning  Constantinople  and 


VASFI   AND    HIS   FLOCK  243 

of  transferring  the  seat  of  government  to   Brusa  in  Asia 
Minor. 

Meanwhile,  fresh  troops  belonging  almost  entirely  to 
the  Nizam  army,  and  of  a  far  better  quality  than  the 
undisciplined  Redifs  that  had  fought  at  Lule  Burgas,  were 
being  hurried  to  the  front  from  the  vilayets  of  Asia  Minor. 
The  Turks  at  the  eleventh  hour  had  decided  to  denude  the 
Armenian  frontier  of  troops,  upon  which  some  of  their 
best  divisions  were  stationed.  We  saw  several  regiments 
belonging  to  the  army  corps  from  Trebizond  pass  through 
Constantinople,  and  were  very  much  struck  by  their  appear- 
ance. The  troops  from  the  Yemen  under  the  command 
of  the  famous  Izzet  Pasha  were  also  beginning  to  arrive, 
and  the  Government  had  by  now  brought  up  most  of  the 
regular  troops  from  the  vilayet  of  Smyrna,  whither  they 
had  originally  been  sent  to  cope  with  a  possible  Itahan 
invasion. 

As  before  the  outbreak  of  hostihties,  it  was  utterly 
impossible  to  obtain  any  reliable  news  of  what  was  happen- 
ing in  the  trenches  at  Chataldja,  although  they  were  only 
twenty  miles  distant  from  Constantinople,  but,  as  one  by  one 
the  correspondents  arrived  from  the  front,  each  had  a 
different  story  to  tell  of  the  sufferings  and  disorganisation  of 
the  Turkish  Army. 

On  Friday,  Major  Vasfi,  the  Censor,  sent  a  message 
to  the  correspondents,  saying  that  he  would  like  to  see  them 
all  at  the  Pera  Palace  at  six  o'clock.  Donohoe  and  I 
thought  it  advisable  to  stay  away  after  our  flight  from 
Constanza,  and  so  my  brother  was  deputed  to  attend  the 
conference. 

At  six  o'clock  a  score  or  so  correspondents  were  seated 
round  Major  Vasfi  in  the  hall  of  the  hotel.  Major  Vasfi 
started  by  reproving  us  for  our  unceremonious  departure  from 
him  and  the  army,  whereupon  a  dispute  at  once  broke  out  as 

r2 


244  WITH   THE   TURKS    IN   THRACE 

to  whether  the  correspondents  had  abandoned  the  army  or 
the  army  the  correspondents.  It  was  finally  settled  that  the 
army  was  at  fault.  Then  a  Frenchman  started  blaming 
Major  Vasfi,  because  he  had  not  been  informed  in  time  of  the 
departure  of  the  Circassian  horsemen  to  the  front  on  the 
previous  day,  so  that  he  could  take  a  photograph  of  them, 
whereupon  I  suggested  that,  as  they  would  probably  be 
coming  back  in  a  few  days,  he  would  then  have  an  excellent 
opportunity.  After  which  an  Austrian  started  a  long  tirade, 
in  the  course  of  which  he  pointed  out  that  he  was  a  hero  who 
had  given  his  life  blood  for  the  Turks  in  Tripoli,  and  in  return 
he  had  overheard  Turkish  officers  calling  him  a  dirty  spy. 
I  pointed  out  to  him  that,  being  a  correspondent,  that  was 
exactly  what  he  was.  Finally,  the  Censor  gave  us  the  daily 
account  of  a  Turkish  victory  ten  miles  north  of  Viza,  and 
offered  to  pass  any  telegrams  that  we  might  wish  to  send  on 
the  subject. 

We  were  now  able  to  glean  a  knowledge  of  what  had 
been  happening  in  the  other  theatres  of  war  from  the 
European  papers  arriving  in  Constantinople.  Uskiib, 
Monastir,  and  Salonica  had  fallen  in  turn,  and  from  every 
side  came  the  same  story  of  the  Turkish  lack  of  organisation 
and  failure  to  provide  the  army  with  food.  We  were  also 
able  to  read  the  lurid  reports  of  Lieutenant  Wagner,  the 
correspondent  of  the  Reichspost  with  the  victorious  Bulgarian 
Army. 

Writing  from  the  "  Headquarters  of  the  Bulgarian 
Army,"  Lieutenant  Wagner  described  a  bloody  battle,  in 
which  the  Turks  lost  40,000  men  killed  and  wounded,  as 
having  taken  place  in  and  around  Chorion  a  few  days  after 
the  battle  of  Lule  Burgas ;  and  yet  we  who  were  there 
saw  nothing  of  the  battle.  He  ends  up  his  despatch 
with  the  following  words  : — 

"  Still  more  terrible  was  the  fighting  at  Chorion,  which 


WAGNER'S   FIRST   INTERMEZZO  245 

must  have  resembled  that  at  the  Beresina.  Even  to-day  in 
many  places  the  water  is  dammed  by  corpses  and  war 
material,  and  red  with  the  blood  of  dead  and  wounded." 

They  must  have  been  very  sanguinary  wounded,  for  the 
river  at  Chorion,  being  swollen  by  heavy  rains  at  that  time, 
was  running  at  about  12  knots,  and  yet  for  days  after  the 
fight  it  was  stained  with  blood  and  blocked  with  corpses  ! 

There  is  another  peculiarity  I  have  noticed  amongst  the 
soldiers  of  all  nations,  they  do  not  fight  for  preference  in 
the  middle  of  a  river,  and  whenever  possible  the  wounded 
avoid  crawling  into  a  river  to  die. 

In  addition,  the  following  despatch  from  Lieutenant 
Wagner  appeared  in  the  Reichspost,  of  Thursday,  November 
7th  :— 

"  It  had  already  been  seen  in  Turkish  military  circles  that 
the  defence  of  the  Chataldja  line  was  untenable  and  useless. 
The  Turkish  troops  fled  in  breakneck  style  to  Constanti- 
nople, without  paying  regard  to  the  cries  of  their  officers. 

"  The  situation  at  Constantinople  is  desperate.     The  city . 
is  full  of  refugee  soldiers,  who,  half-starved,  take  revenge 
upon  the  defenceless  Christians. 

"  The  left  wing  of  the  Bulgarian  army,  after  a  determined 
struggle,  reached  the  heights  east  of  Strandja,  driving  the 
right  Turkish  wing  into  the  forest  district  west  of  Derkos 
Lake.  The  Bulgarians  are  strongly  reinforced  at  Strandja 
and  Yenikoei  to  give  a  final  blow  to  the  Chataldja  positions 
south  of  the  Derkos  Lake.  The  centre  and  right  Bulgarian 
wing  forced  the  conquered  Turkish  rearguard  along  the 
railway  line  and  through  Cauta,  and  will  continue  the  attack 
upon  the  Turkish  positions  on  both  sides  of  the  village  of 
Chataldja. 

"  The  immediate  fall  of  all  the  Turkish  positions  is  now  a 
dead  certainty.  The  Turkish  artillery  has  very  insufficiently 
supported  the  infantry  thus  far,  and  has  seldom  remained 
till  the  last  moment.  Insufficient  action  with  the  too  early 
retreat  of  the  Turkish  artillery  left  the  retreating  Turkish 


246  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

infantry  defenceless  against  the  attacks  of  the  onstorming 
Bulgarians  and  firing  of  the  Bulgarian  batteries  so  that  the 
retreat  almost  resembled  a  flight. 

Lieutenant  Wagner  heads  his  despatch  "  Bulgarian  Army 
Headquarters,"  but  he  does  not  say  where  the  headquarters 
were,  neither  does  he  date  his  despatch.  The  despatch 
appeared  in  the  Vienna  Reichspost  of  November  7th,  and 
must,  therefore,  have  been  sent  off  at  the  latest  on  the 
previous  day,  which  brings  us  to  Wednesday,  November  6th. 
The  battle  which  it  describes,  therefore,  must  have  taken 
place  on  Tuesday,  November  5th,  at  the  latest.  Now  on 
Monday,  November  4th,  Seabury  Ashmead-Bartlett  was  at 
Cherkeskeuy,  80  miles  north-east  of  Chataldja,  and  there 
was  no  sign  of  the  Bulgarians ;  on  Tuesday  he  was  at 
Sinekli — still  no  sign  of  the  Bulgarians,  while  the  Turkish 
peasants  and  soldiers  continued  their  retreat  unmolested. 
On  Wednesday,  November  6th,  he  was  actually  at  Chataldja 
and  yet  he  saw  no  signs  of  an  attack  on  the  lines,  no  signs 
of  the  taking  of  Derkos — which,  incidentally,  lies  behind 
the  Turkish  position — while  the  Turkish  headquarters  were 
still  in  telegraphic  communication  with  Cherkeskeuy. 

The  remnants  of  Abdullah's  army  of  Thrace  only  began 
to  reach  the  lines  on  November  7th,  whereas  Lieutenant 
Wagner  describes  how,  at  least  two  days  previously,  they  had 
abandoned  their  positions  and  "  fled  in  breakneck  style  to 
Constantinople. " 

Then  he  goes  on  to  describe  how  Constantinople  is 
"  full  of  refugee  soldiers,  who,  half-starved,  take  revenge 
upon  the  defenceless  Christians."  At  the  time  there  were 
no  starving  soldiers  in  Constantinople,  and  later  on,  when 
a  certain  number  of  sick  and  stragglers  found  their  way 
to  the  city,  they  were  segregated  in  the  mosques  under 
a  strong  guard,  and  at  no  time  did  they  "take  revenge 
upon  the  Christians." 


WAGNER  CAPTURES   CHATALDJA        247 

In  a  later  despatch  dated  "  Bulgarian  Army  Headquarters, 
Nov.  7  (10  p.m.) "  Lieutenant  Wagner  goes  on  to  describe 
how: — 

"  The  Bulgarian  attack  on  the  Chataldja  positions  goes 
successfully  forward.  The  positions  taken  by  the  Third 
Bulgarian  Army  on  the  Turkish  right  wing  at  Delijunus, 
form  an  excellent  centre  for  the  continuation  of  the 
attack. 

"  On  the  south  hne,  also,  the  Bulgarian  troops  have 
already  taken  possession  of  the  principal  positions.  The 
fall  of  the  whole  of  the  Chataldja  positions  is  imminent. 

"Already  yesterday  the  advanced  troops  of  the  Third 
Army,  fighting  continually,  had  pressed  forward  to  the 
Tarfa-Kalfakeni  line,  and  early  this  morning  the  First 
Army  drove  the  Turkish  troops  from  the  heights  near 
Chataldja. 

"  The  battle  is  now  raging  along  the  whole  line,  and 
Europe  may  expect  to  receive  at  any  moment  the  laconic 
announcement  of  the  fall  of  the  famous  lines  of  Chataldja. 

"  Once  more  the  Bulgarians  are  acting  with  unexampled 
dash. 

"  I  just  learn  that  the  columns  of  the  Third  Army, 
proceeding  south  of  the  Derkos  Lake,  have  captured  the 
positions  at  Delijunus,  on  the  Turkish  right  wing,  and 
that  the  columns  of  the  Third  Army,  also  going  southwards, 
are  advancing  victoriously." 

Truly  prophetic  utterances,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
Bulgarian  attack  on  the  lines  of  Chataldja  did  not  begin 
until  November  17th,  and  that  it  was  then  easily  repulsed 
by  the  Turks.  When  this  faint-hearted  attack  of  the 
Bulgarians  on  the  Turkish  positions  did  begin,  Lieutenant 
Wagner,  undeterred  by  the  exposure  of  his  former 
prophecies,   reported : — 

"  After  four  days  of  sanguinary  fighting,  the  Bulgarian 
army  has  succeeded  in  breaking  through  the  centre  of  the 
Turkish  positions  at  Chataldja  in  the  direction  of  Hademkeuy, 


248  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

and  in  completely  rolling  up  the  Turkish  defences.  The 
advance  will  be  continued  with  the  greatest  energy,  in  order 
to  force  the  Turkish  troops  as  far  as  possible  from 
Constantinople. " 

The  course  of  events  will  show  that  the  fighting  at 
Chataldja  was  never  of  a  sanguinary  nature  ;  that  the  battle 
only  lasted  two  days,  and  that,  far  from  rolling  up  the 
Turkish  forces,  the  Bulgarians  were  themselves  forced  to 
retreat. 

But  Lieutenant  Wagner  did  not  hesitate  to  state  in  the 
course  of  another  despatch,  that  the  gallant,  but  defeated 
Turkish  troops  behaved  with  shocking  brutality. 

*'  The  atrocities  committed  by  the  retreating  Turks  are 
awful.  All  the  villages  were  burned  to  ashes ;  all  the 
Christians  were  massacred,  and  dozens  of  female  corpses 
have  been  found  with  mutilated  bodies.  The  Anatolian 
Redifs,  especially,  behaved  like  wild  beasts." 

Poor,  gentle  and  kind-eyed,  courteous  Anatolian  Redifs  ! 
You  were  starving  and  disorganised,  and  yet  we  marched 
with  you  all  the  way  from  Lule  Burgas  to  Chataldja,  rather 
more  than  140  miles,  without  a  passport  or  any  other  paper 
to  show  who  we  were,  and  with  a  cartload  of  equipment  and 
stores,  and  none  of  you  ventured  to  molest  us.  We  were 
Christians,  and  King  Ferdinand  had  proclaimed  a  Holy  War, 
and  yet  one  of  you  offered  to  share  his  last  crust  of  bread 
with  us,  because  we  gave  him  a  drink  of  water. 

Nor  did  we  see  you  massacre  and  ill-treat  Christians  or 
mutilate  their  women-folk,  although,  when  you  were  starving, 
they  used  to  shut  their  doors  in  your  faces  and  refuse  to  give 
you  of  the  food  which  they  possessed  in  plenty.  Their  flocks 
also  you  left  untouched  in  your  extremity,  and  their  chickens 
and  their  com.   Few  European  armies  would  have  behaved  in 


NO   TURKISH  ATROCITIES  249 

such  a  gentle  and  forbearing  manner  as  you.     Few  races 
could  show  such  a  spirit  of  tolerance. 

One  day  at  the  height"  of  the  crisis,  when  the  Bulgarians 
were  said  to  be  on  the  eve  of  entering  Constantinople  and 
of  setting  up  the  cross  on  St.  Sofia,  we  watched  a  Greek 
religious  procession  passing  through  the  streets  of  Pera.  A 
priest  dressed  in  robes  of  silk  and  gold  went  before,  carrying 
high  the  cross,  while  others  in  gaudy  raiment  followed  after, 
chanting  a  solemn  hymn  as  they  went.  And  no  attempt  was 
made  by  the  Turks  to  molest  these  Greeks.  We  wondered 
what  would  have  happened  in  Piccadilly  if,  when  the  army  of 
a  Roman  Catholic  nation,  which  had  invaded  England  with 
the  avowed  intention  of  stamping  out  Protestantism,  was 
on  the  eve  of  entering  London,  the  Roman  Catholic  Arch- 
bishop of  Westminster  had  gone  in  procession  through  the 
streets  carrying  the  Host.  We  remembered  the  outcry  in 
the  Press,  when  he  had  mooted  doing  such  a  thing  in  a 
period  of  profound  peace,  and  trembled  for  the  fate  of  him 
and  his  priests. 


CHAPTER   XIX 


THE   CHOLERA 


We  were  much  amused  to  read  one  evening  an  official 
announcement  by  the  Ottoman  News  Agency,  that  forty  of 
the  most  prominent  Ulemas  had  been  dispatched  to  the  army 
at  Chataldja,  in  order  to  excite  the  fanaticism  of  the  soldiers 
by  preaching  an  "  official  Holy  War."  They  did  not,  how- 
ever, succeed  in  awakening  any  fanaticism,  and  the  dispatch 
of  forty  train  loads  of  bread  would  probably  have  been  more 
efficacious. 

Meanwhile  thousands  of  refugees  with  their  bullock- 
wagons  and  flocks  were  arriving  daily  at  the  city's  gates. 
To  most  of  them  entrance  was  debarred,  and  they  had  to 
take  refuge  in  the  cemeteries  beyond  the  city  walls,  but 
many  were  camped  in  the  streets  of  Stamboul.  The 
resultant  filth  and  congestion  beggars  description  and  was 
certain  to  cause  a  lot  of  disease.  These  unfortunate  women 
and  children  were  being  transhipped  as  fast  as  possible  to 
Asia  Minor ;  but  what  will  happen  to  them  there  and  who 
will  provide  for  their  support,  none  can  tell.  Their  fate  is 
in  the  lap  of  the  gods.  Many  of  them  have  lost  their 
fathers,  sons,  or  brothers.  Even  if  their  menfolk  should 
escape  death  in  the  war,  they  will  never  be  able  to  find  their 
famihes  again,  for  the  people  do  not  mean  to  return  to 
Europe.     I  talked  to  one  old  peasant,  and  he  said : — **  We 


BRITISH   RED   CROSS    SOCIETY  251 

are  going  to  seek  in  Asia  the  peace  that  we  have  never 
found  in  the  land  of  the  Giaours." 

Meanwhile  we  heard  that  cholera  had  broken  out  among 
the  troops  at  Chataldja,  and  that  a  number  of  cases  had 
arrived  at  Constantinople.  One  day  therefore  we  visited  the 
Cekedje  railway  station  at  an  hour  when  we  knew  that  a 
train  load  of  sick  and  wounded  men  was  expected  from  the 
front,  and  we  were  able  to  see  for  ourselves  the  truth  of 
the  report.  With  characteristic  carelessness,  the  Turks  had 
placed  a  number  of  cholera  cases  among  the  non-infectious 
patients,  and  quietly  sent  them  off  to  Stamboul  to  spread 
the  dread  disease  among  its  teeming  population.  At  the 
station  the  cholera  patients  were  sorted  out  from  among  the 
others,  and  placed  in  sheds  which  were  already  half  full  of 
dead  and  dying  men,  while  those  who  handled  them  were 
profusely  sprayed  with  disinfectant.  Then  they  were  left 
uncared  for  until  such  time  as  death  should  end  their 
sufferings. 

We  afterwards  visited  the  British  Red  Cross  Society's 
admirable  hospital  in  the  old  Museum,  where  we  were 
able  to  see  the  condition  of  the  wounded  men  arriving 
from  the  front.  Only  about  20  per  cent,  of  those  who 
had  been  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Lule  Burgas  ever  got 
back  to  Constantinople,  the  remainder  perishing  from 
exposure  and  neglect,  while  trying  in  vain  to  drag  them- 
selves away  from  the  battlefield.  Many  of  those  who  did 
survive,  only  reached  the  hospitals  in  the  capital  ten  or 
fifteen  days  after  the  battle,  during  which  time  their  wounds 
had  remained  untended,  with  the  result  that  they  had 
festered  and  were  covered  with  maggots  and  vermin. 
Still  in  most  cases  they  managed  to  recover,  thanks  to  their 
wonderful  constitutions  and  non-alcoholic  habits. 

On  the  evening  of  Tuesday,  November  12th,  the  Turkish 
Government  announced,  through  the  medium  of  the  Otto- 


252  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

man  Agency,  that  no  correspondents  could  be  permitted  to 
return  to  the  front. 

Nevertheless,  as  our  preparations  were  completed,  and  we 
believed  an  attack  on  the  lines  of  Chataldja  to  be  imminent, 
we  decided  to  start  at  dawn  on  the  following  day,  Wednes- 
day, November  13th.  As  on  the  occasion  of  our  first 
departure  for  the  front,  we  were  obliged  to  take  all  supplies 
with  us,  as  we  could  hope  to  find  but  little  food  in  the 
country  through  which  the  Turkish  army  had  passed.  We 
did  not  know  how  long  the  second  phase  of  operations  was 
likely  to  last,  and  so  we  had  purchased  supphes  for  one 
month. 

Our  party  consisted  of  my  brother  and  myself,  Martin 
Donohoe  of  the  Chronicle,  Bryant,  our  guide  and  interpreter, 
Goupa,  dragoman  and  cook,  Hadji,  our  old  Albanian  groom, 
and  another  groom  of  Donohoe's.  To  carry  the  food  and 
equipment  necessary  for  seven  persons,  we  were  obliged  to 
hire  a  second  cart  and  two  horses,  in  addition  to  the  araba 
drawn  by  the  two  little  black  ponies,  which  had  done  such 
wonders  on  the  retreat  from  Lule  Burgas.  We  also  hired  a 
Minerva  motor-car  for  the  purpose  of  getting  back  quickly 
to  Constantinople  with  our  despatches,  should  occasion 
arise. 

We  were  up  by  six  in  the  morning  packing  up  the  two 
carts,  which  were  sent  on  in  charge  of  Goupa,  with  orders  to 
proceed  to  the  station  at  Kuchuk  Chekmedche,  and  there 
to  await  our  arrival. 

Kuchuk  Chekmedche  is  situated  on  the  coast  about  14 
miles  from  Constantinople,  on  the  banks  of  the  lake  of 
Chekmedche,  and  is  about  seven  miles  distant  from  the  lines 
of  Chataldja.  We  ourselves  arranged  to  follow  at  about 
12.30  p.m.,  Donohoe  in  the  motor-car,  and  myself  and  my 
brother  with  our  guide  Bryant  on  horseback.  Shortly 
before  that  hour  my  brother  went  round  to  the  stable  to 


A   FIGHT  253 

fetch  our  saddle  horses,  and  was  met  by  the  Greek  pro- 
prietor, who  presented  a  bill  for  £10  for  the  five  days 
which  our  horses  had  spent  in  his  stable,  and  this  despite 
the  fact  that  we  had  provided  their  food  ourselves.  We 
told  him  as  politely  as  possible  that  his  bill  was  excessive 
and  that,  as  we  were  pressed  for  time,  we  could  argue  the 
matter  out  after  our  return  from  Chataldja.  He  also 
told  him,  as  he  raised  objections,  that  the  Pera  Palace 
Hotel  or  the  Ottoman  Bank,  where  we  had  our  account, 
would  give  security  for  the  money  that  we  owed  him.  But 
this  did  not  suit  the  rascally  Levantine,  who,  never  having 
done  an  honest  action  in  his  life,  was  incapable  of  trusting 
anybody  else. 

Unwilling  to  continue  a  discussion  which  was  becoming 
undignified,  my  brother  started  to  lead  his  horse  from  the 
stable,  whereupon  the  proprietor  seized  the  bridle  in  an 
endeavour  to  prevent  him.  My  brother  was  so  exasperated 
by  this  traditional  insult  from  one  whom  experience  had 
taught  us  to  consider  as  an  inferior  species,  that  he  struck  him 
in  the  face,  knocking  him  down.  The  man  picked  himself 
up,  screaming  like  a  woman,  and  disappeared  into  the  coach- 
room,  whence  he  reappeared  a  moment  afterwards  armed 
with  an  iron  bar,  and  followed  by  three  stablemen  armed 
with  heavy  sticks.  In  face  of  such  overpowering  odds  my 
brother  was  obliged  to  beat  a  strategic  retreat  to  the  hotel, 
whence  we  returned  a  few  minutes  later  armed  with  hunting 
crops. 

We  found  that  the  stablemen  had  closed  the  coach  door 
and  were  prepared  to  stand  a  siege,  but  we  at  once  delivered  a 
frontal  attack,  forced  open  the  door,  and  precipitated  our- 
selves on  the  enemy's  forces  within.  A  free  fight  ensued,  in 
which  first  fists,  then  hunting  crops  and  sticks  were  freely 
employed.  Finally,  the  Greeks  drew  their  knives  and 
attempted  to  mutilate  the  horses,  but  my  brother  drew  his 


254  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

Mannlicher  automatic  pistol,  and  drove  them  trembling  into 
a  corner,  while  we  led  the  horses  round  to  the  front  of  the 
hotel.  We  were  followed  by  the  proprietor  and  his  under- 
lings, whose  gesticulations,  remonstrances,  and  bleeding  faces 
soon  caused  a  large  and  excited  crowd  to  gather  round  us. 
Then  a  policeman  arrived  on  the  scene,  and,  fearing 
detention  and  endless  litigation,  we  told  Bryant  to  calm  the 
proprietor's  anger  with  a  sovereign.  But  Bryant,  who 
knows  the  country,  gave  the  money  to  the  policeman,  upon 
which  our  path  became  strewn  with  roses. 

We  were  doubtful  as  to  whether  we  should  be  allowed  to 
pass  the  city  gates,  in  view  of  the  official  announcement  that 
no  correspondents  would  be  allowed  to  return  to  the  front. 
And,  sure  enough,  we  were  stopped  by  the  military  police  at 
the  Golden  Gate,  and  questioned  by  the  officer  in  charge  as 
to  whether  we  were  war  correspondents.  We  replied  that 
we  were  not,  but  harmless  English  gentlemen  in  the  act  of 
taking  a  little  ride  out  to  San  Stefano — and  this  despite  the 
fact  that  we  were  laden  with  water  bottles,  revolvers,  haver- 
sacks, and  all  the  varied  equipment  of  war. 

The  officer  took  our  names  and  telephoned  to  the  War 
Office  for  instructions,  receiving  the  order  to  send  us  back 
immediately.  We  feigned  complete  indiffisrence,  chatted 
with  the  officer  in  a  friendly  manner  for  about  a  quarter  of 
an  hour,  offisred  him  cigarettes,  and  finally  pointed  out  what 
a  pity  it  was  that  we  should  be  deprived  of  our  ride  on  such 
a  fine  day.  We  so  worked  on  his  better  feelings  that,  in 
direct  contravention  of  his  orders,  he  informed  us  that  we 
might  go  on  our  way  to  San  Stefano,  and  begged  us  to  stop 
and  take  coffise  with  him  on  our  return.  This  example  is 
typical  of  the  anaemia  of  the  Turkish  character,  and  the 
laxity  of  officials. 

It  was  a  lovely  day — bright  sunshine  and  almost  tropical 
heat,  despite  the  advanced  season  of  the  year.     We  rode 


BACK   TO   THE   FRONT  255 

out  through  the  Golden  Gate,  through  which  the  Turkish 
conquerors  rode  into  the  city  five  centuries  ago,  leaving 
behind  us  the  noble  castellated  walls  of  the  city,  built  when 
it  was  Byzantium ;  now  crumbling  to  ruin  and  seared  with 
deep  cracks.  The  Sea  of  Marmora  was  all  golden  in  the 
sunlight  and  beyond  we  could  see  the  faint  outhne  of  the 
purple  hills  of  Asia  Minor  with  their  mantle  of  eternal 
snow.  The  country  round  us  was  covered  with  the  flocks  of 
refugees  searching  the  sun-baked  soil  in  vain  for  pasture. 
Women  from  one  of  the  refugee  camps  were  filling  their 
pitchers  with  water  from  a  stagnant  pool,  oblivious  of  the 
fact  that  in  it  lay  the  putrefying  body  of  an  ox.  We  saw 
a  large  number  of  sick  and  useless  soldiers  straggling  off  to 
the  rear,  while  many  men  were  lying  untended  by  the  road- 
side in  a  dying  condition — and  that  within  ten  miles  of  the 
capital.  Some  of  them  had  the  appearance  of  cholera 
victims.  We  reached  Kuchuk  Chekmedche  about  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  after  a  very  hot  ride,  and  there 
we  found  Donohoe  in  the  motor  car  and  Goupa  with 
the  stores  awaiting  us. 

We  decided  to  spend  the  night  in  the  inn  at  Chekmedche, 
as  we  only  had  about  another  hour  and  a  half  daylight,  and 
it  was  useless  to  think  of  pushing  on  before  the  morrow. 
Chekmedche  lay  very  low  on  the  shores  of  the  lake ;  it  was  a 
miserable,  dirty  village,  and  must  have  been  a  fever-stricken 
haunt,  for  the  atmosphere  was  foetid  and  sodden,  and  peopled 
by  myriads  of  mosquitoes.  The  village  was  crowded  with 
troops  and  we  had  some  difficulty  in  finding  stabling  for  our 
horses.  We  found  a  room  with  three  beds  for  ourselves  in 
the  local  inn,  and  Goupa  prepared  our  evening  meal  in  the 
common  room  downstairs,  which  was  crowded  with  Greek 
peasants  and  Turkish  soldiers. 

We  found  Nicholson,  a  cinematograph  operator,  and 
Grant,  of  the  Daily  Mirror,  in   the  inn,  and  they  dined 


256  WITH   THE   TURKS    IN   THRACE 

with  us  at  the  httle  deal  table  which  Goupa  had  spread  with 
a  white  cloth  in  one  corner  of  the  bar,  while  the  natives 
looked  in  astonishment  at  the  lavish  meal  of  which  we 
partook. 

It  was  very  hot  cholera  weather,  and  mosquitoes  were 
dying  in  battalions  against  the  glass  of  our  lamp,  but  from 
outside  the  moan  of  the  waves  brought  a  little  coolness  to 
our  parched  senses. 

When  it  came  to  the  opening  of  the  whiskey  we  discovered 
to  our  horror  that  the  soda  water  had  been  left  behind.  Here 
was  a  predicament,  indeed,  for  we  were  in  a  country  where 
cholera  was  raging  and  all  the  streams  and  springs  were 
contaminated  by  the  insanitary  customs  of  the  Turks.  So  it 
was  decided  that  my  brother  should  return  to  Stamboul  at 
dawn  in  order  to  get  the  two  large  cases  of  Mattoni  water. 
Next  day,  after  he  had  returned  with  two  huge  cases  of 
Mattoni  water,  each  containing  twenty-five  quart  bottles,  we 
decided  to  make  for  the  village  of  Aya  Yorgi  (St.  George), 
which  was  some  five  miles  in  rear  of  Hademkeuy,  the  centre 
of  the  Turkish  position,  and  there  to  estabhsh  our  head- 
quarters. We  chose  Aya  Yorgi  because  it  lay  in  the  hills  off 
the  main  road,  and  we  hoped  to  find  it  free  of  soldiers,  for  we 
were  anxious  to  avoid  camping  in  proximity  to  the  Turkish 
army,  owing  to  the  terrible  stories  of  cholera  that  we  had 
heard. 

For  some  distance  our  road  lay  along  the  shores  of  the 
sapphire  blue  lake,  past  banks  of  golden  rushes  peopled 
with  wild  duck  and  other  waterfowl,  and  then  wound  on 
into  a  well-watered  valley  lying  between  rugged  volcanic 
hills.  From  time  to  time  the  sight  of  the  decaying  corpses 
of  oxen  or  horses,  or  of  some  sick  man  who  had  lain  down 
by  the  roadside  to  die,  reminded  us  that  we  were  in  the 
midst  of  war. 

We  watered  our  horses   at  a  spring  flowing  over  moss 


OUR  HOUSE  AT   ST.   GEORGE  257 

and  ferns  from  out  the  heart  of  a  great  white  rock, 
such  as  Moses  must  have  struck  with  his  rod  when  the 
children  of  Israel  were  dying  of  thirst  in  the  wilderness; 
then  we  started  on  a  long  climb  up  to  the  hills.  We 
reached  St.  George  about  four  o'clock  in  the  evening,  only 
to  find,  to  our  dismay,  that  a  brigade  of  the  second  division 
of  the  reserve  was  quartered  in  it.  Every  house  appeared 
to  be  fully  occupied,  and  the  atmosphere  was  full  of  that 
peculiarly  foetid  scent  which  always  accompanies  the  insani- 
tary Turkish  Army. 

We  contemplated  leaving  the  village  and  pitching  our 
tent  in  the  open,  but  at  that  moment  a  staif  officer  came 
up  to  us,  and  after  inquiring  who  we  were,  asked  us  to 
wait  while  he  made  a  report  to  the  commandant.  He 
returned  shortly  afterwards  to  say  that  the  commandant 
had  ordered  him  to  place  a  room  at  our  disposal,  and  to 
find  stabling  for  our  horses.  We  thanked  him,  and  he  com- 
mitted us  to  the  care  of  a  lieutenant  in  the  Army  Service  Corps, 
who  was  at  least  fifty  years  old,  and  who  evidently  belonged 
to  the  old  class  of  officer  promoted  from  the  ranks  under  the 
Hamidian  regime.  The  antiquated  Heutenant  found  us  a 
room  in  a  house  which  had  once  been  the  summer  home  of  a 
bygone  Sultan's  favourite,  and  which  was  now  occupied  by 
an  Armenian  priest.  It  was  a  handsome  room  of  many 
windows,  looking  out  over  the  valley  up  which  we  had 
climbed  to  the  sea  beyond,  but  was  devoid  of  all  furniture, 
save  for  two  divans  upon  which  we  slept.  After  he  had 
seen  us  comfortably  installed,  the  patriarchal  lieutenant 
informed  us  through  the  medium  of  Bryant  that  he  would 
not  scorn  to  accept  a  little  backsheesh,  and  we  were  only  too 
glad  to  reward  the  poor  fellow,  as  he  had  probably  received 
no  pay  for  months. 

We  were  very  tired,  having  had  a  long  and  hot  march, 
so  after  we  had   eaten   some   dinner  we  settled  down  for 


258  WITH  THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

the  night.     We  had  just  turned  out  the  lights   and  were 
lying  in  a  semi-somnolent  condition,  congratulating  ourselves 
on  having  found  such  comfortable  quarters   for  the  night, 
when  there  came  a  loud  knocking  at  the  door.     We  jumped 
up  and  opened  it,  and  our  friend  the  staff  officer  entered, 
followed    by   four   other  persons,   saying :    "  Messieurs,  je 
vous   ai  apporte  vos  camarades."      We  had   not  the  least 
idea  who  "  vos  camarades  "  were,  but  we  were  in  no  mood  to 
receive  visitors,  had  they  been  our  oldest  and  dearest  friends. 
From  the  babel  of  guttural  sounds  which  issued  from  them 
we  were  able  to  distinguish  that  they  were  Germans,  and  on 
striking  a   light  we   found  ourselves   confronted   by  three 
German  war  correspondents  and  Mr.  Frank  Otter,  the  war 
correspondent  of  the  Pink-un.    All  were  without  baggage 
or  provisions   and   announced   their  intention   of  billeting 
themselves  on  us.     This  we  did  not  at  all  relish,  as  the  room 
was  already  overcrowded,   so  we  requested   them  to  find 
shelter  elsewhere.     This  annoyed  the  Germans  very  much, 
and  they  made  angry  remarks  about  our  total  want  of  the 
spirit  of  comradeship,  and  of  how  in  war  it  was  share  and 
share  alike.     This  argument  naturally  appealed  to  them  as 
they,  through  their  own  improvidence,  were  without  pro- 
visions, while  we  showed  obvious  manifestation  of  having 
food  and  drink  in  plenty  in  the  room  with  us.     When  our 
first  annoyance  at  being  disturbed  had  subsided,  we  gave 
them  something  to  eat  and  drink  and  handed  them  over  to 
our  dragoman,  with  orders  to  find  them  a  lodging  elsewhere. 
Frank   Otter   we   invited   to   spend   the   night  with   us. 
He  told  us  that  he  had  come  by  motor  car  to  Chekmedche, 
and   had   strolled   from   that  village   to   St.   George.      He 
did   not   seem  to  know  where  he  was  going,  or  what  he 
was   going   to   do.     He  had  no  stores,  not  even  a  horse, 
but  this  did  not  seem  to  trouble  him  in  the  least.      He 
presented    a  very  picturesque  appearance,   being    dressed 


FRANK   OTTER   AND   THE   "PINK-UN"     259 

in  exquisitely  fitting  tight  khaki  breeches,  a  pair  of  New- 
market leggings,  a  dark  coat,  a  green  waistcoast,  and  a 
large  white  stock,  while  his  face,  upon  which  is  the  glow 
of  many  matutinal  libations,  was  crowned  with  a  scarlet 
fez.  Next  morning  we  had  some  difficulty  in  explaining 
his  presence  to  our  friend  the  staff  officer,  who  said  that 
he  had  heard  of  The  Times^  the  Morning  Post,  and  the 
Telegraph,  but  never  of  the  Pink-un.  So  we  assured 
him  that  it  was  a  military  journal  which  owed  its  name 
to  the  peculiar  colour  of  the  British  soldiers'  coats,  upon 
which  he  became  very  friendly,  and  to  Otter's  considerable 
embarrassment  started  telling  him  a  number  of  technical 
and  strategic  details. 

Fond  as  we  were  of  Frank  Otter's  company,  it  was 
impossible  to  keep  him  with  us  owing  to  the  difficulties 
of  commissariat,  and  he  willingly  consented  to  return  to 
Constantinople  when  he  discovered  the  denuded  state  of  the 
country  and  the  ravages  of  cholera,  not  wishing — as  he 
quaintly  put  it — "to  die  twenty  miles  away  from  the 
nearest  bar." 

In  the  afternoon  we  decided  to  ride  out  to  Hardemkeuy, 
in  order  to  reconnoitre  the  lines  of  Chataldja,  a  ride  that 
was  destined  to  be  the  most  gruesome  we  had  ever  taken. 
First  we  passed  through  the  beautiful  valley  of  Chekmedche 
which  presented  an  ideal  picture  of  peace.  In  it  were 
grazing  the  flocks  of  the  migrating  Ottoman  peasants, 
nothing  in  whose  dress,  manners,  and  customs  has  changed 
for  a  thousand  years.  Pretty  veiled  women  were  carrying 
water  on  their  heads  in  great  pitchers  to  their  camp,  where 
their  children  were  playing  in  the  shelter  of  some  silver 
birch  trees.  In  the  distance  the  blue  lake  lay  in  the 
sunhght,  and  the  air  was  filled  with  the  music  of  many 
cattle  bells. 

But  on  the  slope  of  the  hill  beyond  we  were  suddenly 

s2 


260  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

brought  face  to  face  with  the  horrors  of  war.  There  was  a 
httle  encampment  of  brown  shelter  tents,  in  front  of  which 
were  half-a-dozen  newly  covered-in  graves.  Beside  the 
graves  lay  three  corpses  with  blackened,  distorted  faces, 
while  all  around  sat  or  lay  some  twenty  or  thirty  soldiers  in 
the  last  stages  of  disease.  Several  of  them  lay  on  their 
faces  writhing  and  uttering  horrible  groans.  Several  more 
sat  in  silence  waiting  for  death  to  overtake  them,  gazing 
with  misty,  apathetic  eyes  at  the  beautiful  valley  at  their 
feet,  down  which  perhaps  their  own  wives  and  children  were 
fleeing  into  Asia,  driving  their  flocks  before  them.  It  was  a 
cholera  isolation  camp,  and  the  men  we  saw  were  all  dying 
of  that  dread  disease. 

A  little  further  on  we  met  a  band  of  some  fifty  soldiers 
coming  over  the  hill.  They  were  staggering  along  with  the 
hoods  of  their  grey  overcoats  turned  up  over  their  heads. 
Every  now  and  then  one  of  them  would  totter  and  fall  by 
the  roadside  unheeded  by  his  companions.  They  were  sick 
men,  who,  after  having  rifles  and  equipment  taken  from  them, 
had  been  ordered  to  march  to  the  rear  in  search  of  a 
hospital. 

But  these  fearful  scenes  in  the  rear  of  the  army  paled 
into  insignificance  when  compared  with  the  horrors  of 
Hademkeuy,  the  headquarters  of  the  Turkish  Army,  where 
the  remnants  of  the  troops  routed  at  Lule  Burgas  were 
finally  rallied.  As  we  mounted  the  last  slope  which  hides 
the  valley  in  which  Hademkeuy  lies,  we  were  brought  to  a 
standstill  by  the  awful  babel  of  sounds  that  came  from 
beneath  us.  We  were  gazing  into  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death. 

In  the  centre  of  Hademkeuy  lay  a  great  square  formed 
on  one  side  by  some  barracks,  on  two  others  by  lines  of 
white  hospital  tents,  and  on  the  fourth  by  the  high  road. 
This  sq^uare  resembled  a  successful  fly-paper  in  midsummer. 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  SHADOW  OF  DEATH  261 

It  was  covered  with  the  corpses  of  the  dead,  and  the  writhing 
bodies  of  the  hving  in  all  attitudes.  Some  prone,  some 
sitting,  some  kneehng,  some  constantly  shifting,  some  with 
hands  clasped  as  if  in  supplication.  In  some  parts  of  the 
arena  the  dead  were  piled  in  heaps  ;  in  others  those  still 
living  were  almost  as  closely  packed. 

This  shocking  lake  of  misery  was  being  constantly  fed  by 
rivulets  of  stretcher-bearers,  bringing  in  fresh  victims  from 
the  camps  and  forts,  and  by  others  who  crawled  in  of  their 
own  accord,  seeming  to  prefer  to  end  their  days  in  the 
company  of  their  fellow-men,  or  else  expecting  to  find 
succour  or  relief  from  their  immediate  torments.  All  the 
tracks  leading  to  this  impromptu  morgue  were  clothed  with 
the  bodies  of  those  who  had  died  on  the  road.  From  time 
to  time  empty  bullock-wagons  would  pass  through,  and  the 
bodies  of  those  in  whom  life  was  extinct  would  be  dumped 
into  them,  carted  out  of  the  village,  and  thrown  into  great 
pits,  where  sleep  thousands  of  unhappy  Anatolian  peasants. 

There  is  a  station  at  Hademkeuy,  and  a  train  was  in  the 
station.  It  was  black  with  the  most  wretched  specimens  of 
sick  humanity  seeking  to  escape  from  the  dread  spectre  of 
cholera.  The  train  was  leaving  for  Constantinople,  and  all 
who  could  crawl  were  endeavouring  to  secure  a  place  in  it, 
hoping  thus  to  reach  a  haven  of  refuge.  Some  were 
wounded,  some  were  down  with  dysentery,  others  with 
enteric  ;  others  were  feeling  the  spirit  spasms  of  the  scourge 
itself;  others  were  merely  sick  at  heart,  unable  to  stand 
any  longer  the  constant  strain  of  waiting  for  an  unnatural 
death ;   all  were  trying  to  escape. 

It  is  the  men  who  went  through  the  awful  hardships  and 
sufferings  of  the  retreat  after  Lule  Burgas,  who  lived  for  ten 
days  on  green  corn  and  on  scraps  of  offal  picked  up  as  they 
marched,  who  yield  up  the  greatest  number  of  victims  on 
the  altar  of  Asiatic  cholera. 


262  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

Such  is  the  fear  of  infection  that  once  a  soldier  is  seized 
with  cholera  he  is  regarded  by  his  comrades  with  whom  he 
has  lived,  and  by  whose  side  he  has  fought,  as  a  pest  to  be 
avoided  as  if  he  were  the  devil  himself.  Those  who  fall  are 
left  to  die  where  they  drop,  and  no  pleadings  or  prayers  will 
move  the  living  to  raise  a  helping  hand,  even  if  they  are  in 
a  position  to  do  so.  We  Europeans,  who  happened  to  be 
with  the  army,  were  obhged  to  play  the  role  of  the  Pharisees 
who  passed  the  sick  man  lying  by  the  roadside  without  raising 
a  finger  to  help  him.  There  are  many  Turkish  soldiers  and 
many  Europeans  who  possess  the  inclinations  of  the  good 
Samaritan,  but  in  war,  when  cholera  claims  its  victims  by 
the  thousand,  those  who  fall  by  the  way  must  look  for  no 
human  assistance.  The  most  distressing  feature  of  the 
disease  is  the  rapidity  with  which  it  works.  A  man  may  be 
perfectly  well  in  the  morning  ;  a  few  hours  later  he  may  be 
writhing  on  the  ground  in  agony,  and  a  corpse  by  nightfall. 

In  the  village  of  St.  George,  where  we  were  stopping, 
cholera  had  broken  out.  As  soon  as  a  man  was  seized  with 
the  disease,  he  was  thrown  over  the  back  of  a  horse,  carried 
beyond  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  and  laid  on  the  first  patch 
of  open  ground,  there  to  die,  and  when  dead  his  body  was 
covered  with  a  thin  layer  of  earth.  These  ghastly  mounds 
litter  the  country.  There  is  no  escaping  from  them.  Every 
village  through  which  we  passed  has  its  victims  ;  every  road, 
over  which  the  troops  move  to  the  front,  is  marked  by  a  trail 
of  corpses  or  of  men  djdng  by  the  roadside ;  the  very  air 
seemed  foul  with  the  germs  of  disease,  putrefaction,  and 
decay. 


CHAPTER    XX 

THE   ATTACK   ON    CHATALDJA 

We  had  hoped  to  remain  in  concealment  at  Aya  Yorgi 
until  the  fighting  commenced  at  Chataldja,  and  then  to  ride 
forward  the  short  remaining  distance  to  the  lines  and  watch 
the  fighting,  but  all  our  plans  were  upset  by  the  arrival  of 
the  German  correspondents,  who  were  shortly  afterwards 
followed  by  a  number  of  our  English  confreres.  This 
number  of  Europeans  concentrated  in  a  small  village 
aroused  the  curiosity  of  the  commandant,  and,  unknown  to 
us,  he  communicated  with  Constantinople,  and  received 
orders   to  send  us  all  back   to  the  town. 

All  went  well  until  Sunday,  November  17th,  up  to  which 
date  we  were  left  unmolested  and  allowed  to  ride  about  the 
country.  At  dawn  on  that  day  we  were  aroused  by  a 
continuous  detonation  which  sounded  Hke  distant  thunder, 
and  it  became  plain  that  at  length  the  suspense  of  the  last 
few  days  was  at  an  end  and  that  the  Bulgarian  onslaught 
had  commenced.  We  sent  for  our  horses,  and,  taking  some 
provisions,  were  about  to  ride  out  to  Hademkeuy,  when  an 
officer  came  from  the  commandant  of  the  village  saying  we 
were  all  to  return  to  Constantinople  immediately.  This 
news  came  as  a  thunderbolt,  and  could  not  have  arrived  at 
a  more  inopportune  moment,  just  when  the  attack  on  the 
lines   of  Chataldja   had   commenced.      We   asked    for    an 


264  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

explanation  of  this  strange  treatment,  and  the  A.D.C.,  who 
seemed  very  sorry  to  turn  us  out,  said  that  an  order  had 
been  issued  by  Nazim  Pasha  on  the  previous  afternoon  for 
the  expulsion  of  all  foreigners  from  the  front. 

But  it  is  one  thing  for  a  Turk  to  give  an  order,  and  quite 
another  for  him  to  enforce  it,  and  neither  Donohoe,  my 
brother,  nor  myself  had  the  least  intention  of  returning  to 
Constantinople.  We  held  a  hasty  council  of  war  and  decided 
to  pack  up  all  our  baggage  and  stores,  ostensibly  to  take  the 
road  to  Constantinople,  and  then  to  turn  off  and  take 
another  route,  which  would  lead  us  to  the  front.  Packing 
the  carts  caused  an  hour's  delay,  for  on  this,  as  on  every 
other  occasion,  there  were  endless  difficulties  to  be  over- 
come. But  at  length  all  was  ready,  and  after  bidding 
farewell  to  the  Armenian  priest  in  whose  house  we  had 
lodged,  we  mounted  our  horses,  and  personally  I  was  very 
pleased  to  shake  the  dust  of  Aya  Yorgi  from  my  feet. 

We  rode  out  at  the  back  of  the  village,  pretending  to  take 
the  route  to  Constantinople,  but  the  commandant  sent  after 
us  and  said  we  must  take  the  road  to  Buyuk  Chekmedche, 
and  we  had  no  alternative  but  to  obey  his  orders.  We  saw 
the  other  correspondents  in  the  village  also  on  the  move,  for 
all  had  received  similar  orders.  We  passed  down  the  valley 
until  we  came  to  the  railway  hne,  and  then  turned  inland 
towards  the  lines  of  Chataldja.  Hidden  behind  a  hill  we 
found  a  deserted  farm,  and  decided  to  leave  our  servants  and 
our  baggage  there  and  to  ride  on  to  the  front.  We  left  in- 
structions with  our  dragoman  to  have  a  meal  ready  for  us  on 
our  return,  but  not  to  unpack  the  wagons  in  case  we  found 
it  necessary  to  move  elsewhere.  Our  party  was  now  reduced 
to  four  :  Donohoe,  my  brother,  Bryant,  whom  I  took  as 
interpreter,  and  myself.  We  cantered  over  the  country  at 
a  rapid  pace,  nerved  on  to  fresh  exertions  by  the  sound  of 
the  cannon,  which  grew  louder  and  louder  every  minute. 


A   WANTON'S   CHARM  265 

We   had   not  gone   far   when   we   met  M Bey,  an 

educated  Turkish  officer  who  had  been  miUtary  attache  in 
several  European  capitals,  and  who  spoke  French  and  German 

fluently.     M Bey  was  now  attached  to  the  headquarters 

staff,  being  actually  employed  in  looking  after  the  foreign 
military  attaches.  We  had  every  reason  to  fear,  therefore, 
that  he  would  order  us  to  the  rear,  as  he  must  have  been 
cognisant  of  the  order  prohibiting  correspondents  at  the 
front.  Instead,  he  received  us  most  politely,  and  proceeded 
to  explain  carefully  to  us  the  situation  of  the  Turkish  Army, 
ending  by  saying:  *'Do  not  forget  to  mention  in  your  papers 
that  M—  Bey  told  you  so." 

We  then  made  some  banal  remark  about  the  horrors  of 
cholera,  but  he  seemed  indifferent,  and  proceeded  to  tell  us, 
with  every  manifestation  of  naive  delight,  how  he  carried  in 
his  sword-knot  a  charm  presented  to  him  by  an  English  lady. 
He  even  went  so  far  as  to  undo  his  sword-knot  and  to 
produce  a  vulgar  little  enamel  charm  with  "  Dinna  Forget " 
written  upon  it  in  gold — or  brass.  It  had  probably  been 
given  to  him  by  some  light  o'  love  in  one  of  the  many  cafds 
chantants  in  Constantinople,  and  we  went  on  our  way 
wondering  what  manner  of  nation  it  was  that  produced  staff* 
officers  capable  of  taking  joy  in  such  trifles,  when  all  around 
them  the  Empire  was  crumbling  to  ruin  amid  scenes  of 
unparalleled  horror. 

We  thought  we  were  clear  of  all  interference  and  would 
encounter  no  further  difficulty,  but  here  we  made  a  mistake 
which  landed  us  in  endless  trouble  and  considerable  expense. 
We  followed  one  of  the  high  roads  leading  to  the  lines, 
when  we  should  have  cut  right  across  country,  avoiding  all  the 
roads.  We  had  almost  arrived  at  the  point  we  had  selected 
two  days  before  from  which  to  watch  the  attack,  when,  as  we 
were  crossing  a  superb  old  Roman  bridge  which  spanned  a 
deep  gorge,  we  ran  right  into  a  patrol  of  six  gendarmes,  who 


266  WITH   THE   TURKS    IN   THRACE 

immediately  stopped  us  and  said  that  they  had  received 
orders  to  send  us  back  to  Constantinople.  They  told  us 
they  formed  part  of  a  body  of  seventy  gendarmes,  especially 
told  off  by  Nazim  Pasha  to  watch  all  the  roads  and  to  stop 
any  Europeans  from  approaching  the  front. 

The  situation  was  maddening,  as  just  beyond  the  ridge 
was  taking  place  the  battle  that  was  to  decide  the  fate  of 
Constantinople.  We  thought  of  riding  for  it,  but  Bryant 
assured  us  that  the  gendarmes,  who  were  all  mounted,  would 
follow  us  and  shoot  us  down.  He  begged  us  to  have 
patience,  while  he  bargained  a  while  with  them.  "  Every 
man  has  his  price  in  this  country,"  exclaimed  Bryant  cheer- 
fully, "  only  as  these  fellows  are  Turks  we  must  go  slowly 
with  them,  captain.  Mustn't  hurt  their  feelings.  Nice 
fellows,  very  nice  fellows.  You  leave  it  to  me,  captain."  So 
we  left  it  to  him,  and,  sitting  on  the  parapet  of  the  bridge, 
he  began  an  animated  and  genial  conversation  with  the 
sergeant  in  command.  Bryant  has  a  wonderful  way  with 
the  Turks,  among  whom  he  is  very  popular.  First  of  all  he 
offered  the  lieutenant  a  cigarette,  then  a  drink  of  whiskey, 
shortly  after  which  they  embraced,  and  their  conversation 
became  more   and   more   animated. 

All  this  delay  was  extremely  annoying  to  us,  who  were 
longing  to  put  spurs  to  our  horses,  and  to  gallop  up  to  the 
ridge  whence  we  could  see  the  battle.  When  we  suggested 
to  Bryant  that  he  should  hurry,  and  offered  the  gendarmes 
a  sovereign  each,  he  appeared  greatly  shocked  and  replied 
in  his  peculiarly  disjointed  style :  "  Can't  hurry  these 
fellows,  captain.  Wouldn't  like  it.  Must  go  slowly,  slowly. 
Very   decent  fellows,  these  gendarmes." 

The  gendarmes  are  a  fine  body  of  men  and  up  to  the  time 
of  the  Young  Turks'  revolution  were  under  the  command  of 
European  officers.  Their  uniform  consists  of  a  tight-fitting 
blue  tunic,  blue  breeches,  top  boots,  and  a  cloth  turban. 


LOCAL   BECKERS  267 

They  carry  a  Mauser  or  Martini  carbine,  and  two  cartridge 
bandoliers  slung  across  their  tunics.  They  are  well-mounted 
for  the  most  part  on  hardy  Circassian  ponies,  and  also  use 
the  wooden  Circassian  saddle.  They  possess  considerable 
authority,  having  the  power  to  arrest  any  officer  found 
drinking  spirits,  this  being  contrary  to  the  Koran.  This 
rule  is  never  enforced,  except  as  an  excuse  for  arresting  an 
officer  for  political  motives,  and  we  afterwards  found  they 
had  a  very  pretty  taste  in  whiskey  themselves.  Finally 
Bryant  concluded  his  bargains,  and  we  learned  that  the 
sergeant  in  charge  of  the  party,  who  at  first  had  been  loth  to 
disobey  his  instructions,  had  finally  decided  to  sell  his 
military  virtue  and  to  conduct  us  to  the  battlefield  at  the 
price  of  £l  per  head  for  himself  and  his  men. 

We  breasted  the  last  slope,  and  there,  before  us,  lay  the 
battlefield,  majestic  and  infernal.  A  delicate  bluish  haze  lay 
over  all  the  valley,  which  was  filled  vvdth  one  long  continuous 
roar  of  gun-fire.  On  our  left  was  the  Lake  of  Buyuk 
Chekmedche,  and  beyond  it  the  open  sea.  Two  Turkish  war- 
ships were  bombarding  the  Bulgarian  outposts  on  the  black 
mountain  ridge  that  bordered  the  far  side  of  the  lake  and 
extended  inland  to  Chataldja,  forming  a  wall  across  the  centre 
of  the  valley.  Their  shells  had  destroyed  two  arches  of  the 
Roman  causeway  which  had  spanned  the  head  of  the  lake 
for  nigh  two  thousand  years.  Now  they  were  bursting  high 
on  the  purple  hills  above  the  lake,  in  clouds  of  smoke  and 
dust.  They  had  set  fire  to  two  villages,  and  two  black 
columns  of  smoke  were  rising  straight  in  the  air  and  spreading 
out  like  a  vast  funereal  canopy  over  the  valley,  which  looked 
like  a  seething  inferno  in  which  Titans  were  playing  some 
fiendish  game  of  death. 

But  before  I  come  to  my  description  of  the  actual  fighting, 
I  wish  to  give  a  short  sketch  of  the  Chataldja  lines,  and  of 
the  position  of  both  armies.     They  are  erroneously  called 


268  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

the  lines  of  Chataldja,  because  the  village  of  that  name  is 
situated  at  the  foot  of  a  high  hill  some  two  miles  in  front  of 
the  most  advanced  Turkish  works.  They  should  really  be 
called  the  lines  of  Hademkeuy,  because  this  village  hes  in  the 
centre  of  the  position,  half-way  between  the  Sea  of  Marmora 
and  the  Black  Sea.  The  lines  run  in  a  semicircle  from 
Buyuk  Chekmedche  on  the  Sea  of  Marmora  to  Kara  Burun 
on  the  Black  Sea. 

The  centre  of  the  semicircle  recedes  to  take  advantage  of 
the  high  ground,  but  a  line  of  earthworks  has  been  con- 
structed on  a  lower  ridge,  about  a  mile  in  advance,  thus 
forming  an  additional  strong  protection  to  the  position. 

The  full  extent  of  the  hne  from  the  Marmora  to  the 
Black  Sea  is  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  miles,  following 
the  line  of  the  works.  But  the  whole  of  this  distance  does 
not  have  to  be  defended  by  the  Turkish  army,  as  the 
Lake  of  Buyuk  Chekmedche  forms  a  natural  protection  on 
the  south  of  the  position,  and  the  Forest  of  Belgrade  and 
Lake  Derkos  serve  a  similar  purpose  to  the  north.  Thus 
the  extremities  of  the  line  need  only  be  held  by  a  skeleton 
force,  as  it  would  be  almost  impossible  for  an  invading 
army   to  break  through. 

In  front  of  the  position  extending  from  the  north  of 
Lake  Buyuk  Chekmedche  to  the  Forest  of  Belgrade  is  a 
broad  open  valley  that  stretches  right  up  to  the  base  of 
the  hills,  at  the  foot  of  which  lies  Chataldja.  The  position 
is  naturally  strong,  and  could  have  been  rendered  almost 
impregnable,  had  the  work  been  undertaken  in  time. 

The  centre  in  front  of  Hademkeuy  is,  perhaps,  the  weakest 
point,  although  the  ground  offers  but  little  cover  to  an 
attacking  force,  because  here  the  hills  recede,  and  should  it 
once  be  forced,  both  wings  of  the  position  would  be  taken 
in  flank,  and  the  defenders  cut  off  altogether  unless  they 
eifected  their  retreat  in  time. 


THE   LINES    OF   CHATALDJA  269 

Behind  the  hnes  lies  the  fertile  valley  of  Samarkoff,  down 
which  the  Russian  army  advanced  in  the  war  of  1878.  On 
the  other  side  of  the  valley  is  another  line  of  hills,  which 
would  make  a  second  almost  impregnable  position,  were  they 
fortified,  but  the  Turks  have  erected  no  works  or  entrench- 
ments of  any  sort  on  them. 

Situated  amongst  these  hills  are  many  once  prosperous 
villages,  and  in  them  the  reserves  of  the  army  had  been 
living  during  the  past  two  weeks,  but  they  were  pushed  to 
the  front  when  the  action  commenced  at  dawn. 

The  defences  of  the  lines  have  been  sadly  neglected.  The 
so-called  works  consist  merely  of  infantry  lunettes  dug  out 
of  the  earth,  and  only  reinforced  by  concrete  magazines  and 
barracks  in  a  few  of  the  main  works  round  Hademkeuy. 
The  armament  of  these  positions  along  the  main  line  consists 
merely  of  some  old  Krupp  guns,  and  throughout  the  engage- 
ment I  never  saw  them  employed. 

The  position  had  not  even  been  connected  up  by  lines  of 
entrenchments,  but  a  good  deal  had  been  done  to  remedy 
this  defect  during  the  previous  few  days.  Field  artillery  had 
also  been  placed  in  many  of  the  existing  works,  and  special 
gun  emplacements,  affording  some  protection  against  the 
enemy's  fire,  had  also  been  dug. 

No  good  roads  connecting  the  various  positions  have  been 
made,  allowing  of  the  rapid  transit  of  artillery  and  supplies, 
and,  as  far  as  1  know,  none  of  the  positions  were  connected 
up  by  telephone  or  telegraph  until  after  the  retreat  from 
Lule  Burgas.  Yet,  in  spite  of  its  many  defects  and  the 
infinite  neglect  from  which  the  place  has  suffered  in  times 
of  peace,  70,000  men,  if  armed  with  modern  weapons,  should 
be  able  to  hold  it  indefinitely  against  any  army  of  any  size, 
provided  that  their  moral  had  not  suffered  too  much  from 
repeated  reverses,  bad  handling,  and  the  ravages  of  a  nerve- 
destroying  disease. 


270  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

Almost  every  advantage  rests  with  the  defence,  because 
the  invading  army  has  to  advance  over  ground  affording 
very  little  cover,  and  unless  that  army  possesses  siege 
artillery,  which  the  Bulgarians  did  not,  the  field  works  and 
so-called  forts  can  only  be  weakened  before  an  infantry 
assault  by  shrapnel.  It  is  true  that  a  certain  amount  of 
cover  is  afforded  by  an  army  advancing  through  the  forest 
of  Belgrade,  but  in  this  section  of  the  field  the  Bulgarians 
could  not  employ  their  artillery  to  the  same  advantage,  and 
would  have  to  meet  the  Turkish  infantry  on  ground  broken 
and  affording  splendid  cover. 

They  were  hardly  likely  then  to  deliver  their  main  attack 
on  the  extreme  right  of  the  Turkish  line. 

Since  the  debacle  of  Lule  Burgas,  an  effort  had  been 
made  to  reorganise  the  army  of  Thrace  and  to  reform  the 
scattered  army  corps.  Abdullah  had  either  voluntarily 
retired,  or  else  had  been  relieved  of  his  command,  and 
Nazim,  the  Minister  of  War,  was  now  the  supreme  chief 
in  the  field. 

Three  of  the  army  corps  which  took  part  in  the  battle  of 
Lule  Burgas  now  occupied  the  main  line  of  the  defence. 
The  first,  under  Yavir  Pasha,  held  the  position  from  Buyuk 
Chekmedche  to  the  Ahmed  Pass.  From  the  Ahmed  Pass  to 
Yasoren,  the  line  was  held  by  the  2nd  Corps,  and  from  this 
point  to  the  Black  Sea  the  defence  of  the  line  was  entrusted 
to  Mahmoud  Mukhtar  and  the  3rd  Corps,  which  up  to  the 
present  had  distinguished  itself  more  than  any  other  during 
the  war,  and  was  less  demoralised  than  any  of  the  others 
after  the  battle  of  Lule  Burgas. 

The  4th  Corps,  under  Abouk  Pasha,  was  not  in  the  front 
line,  but  was  held  as  a  general  reserve  to  the  2nd  Corps,  to 
be  pushed  forward  in  case  of  need.  Reserves  had,  in  fact, 
been  collected  behind  all  three  corps  ;  but  the  lack  of  moral 
amongst  these  men  was  painfully  evident,  and  they,  like  the 


THE   BOMBARDMENT  271 

troops  on  the  main  position,  were  suffering  terribly  from 
sickness. 

The  battle  which  took  place  on  Smiday,  November  17th, 
was  an  artillery  engagement  on  an  immense  scale,  with  but 
little  infantry  fighting.  It  was  evident  that  the  Bulgarians 
were  preparing  for  an  assault  on  the  outlying  works  by 
a  concentrated  bombardment  on  the  advanced  positions. 
From  seven  in  the  morning  to  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
the  artillery  fire  was  incessant,  and  was  occasionally  broken 
by  the  rattle  of  rifle  fire  and  the  buzzing  of  the  machine 
guns  as  the  enemy's  infantry  advanced  across  the  valley 
leading  from  Chataldja  to  obtain  a  footuig  under  the 
advanced  works,  which,  reading  from  the  Marmora  to  the 
Black  Sea,  are  called  Hamidiyeh,  Mahmudiyeh,  Nakashkeuy 
Kurd  Dere,  and  Gazi  Bajir. 

During  the  last  few  days  the  Bulgarians  had  been 
occupied  in  placing  their  artillery  in  advantageous  positions 
along  the  whole  front  of  the  Turkish  lines.  Their  efforts 
to  establish  themselves  on  the  high  ground  overlooking 
Buyuk  Chekmedche  were  rendered  futile  by  the  concentra- 
ted fire  of  the  Turkish  warships,  which  are  said  to  have 
completely  destroyed  one  battery.  Therefore,  they  were 
obliged  to  place  their  batteries  in  emplacements  at  the  foot 
of  the  hills  in  front  of  the  Turkish  advanced  works,  in  order 
to  cover  the  advance  of  their  infantry  across  the  open  ground 
which  leads  up  to  these  positions. 

Throughout  the  morning  the  roar  of  the  artillery  was  so 
severe  that  it  sounded  like  thunder.  When  I  arrived  at  the 
high  ground  at  the  top  of  Lake  Buyuk  Chekmedche  I  saw 
before  me  one  of  the  most  magnificent  spectacles  that  war 
provides.  I  overlooked  the  whole  field  of  battle,  and  could 
follow  every  movement  of  both  armies.  On  my  left  lay  the 
Lake  of  Buyuk  Chekmedche,  and  out  at  sea  two  Turkish 
warships  were  concentrating  a  furious  bombardment  from 


272  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

all  their  guns  on  the  Bulgarian  positions  on  the  hills  on  the 
farther  side  of  the  lake. 

Huge  columns  of  smoke  and  flame  arose  wherever  a  big 
shell  from  one  of  the  naval  guns  burst,  and  speedily  every 
village  and  farm  in  this  quarter  was  in  flames. 

The  Bulgarian  artillery  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  protected 
from  the  fire  of  the  warships,  concentrated  on  the  Turkish 
advanced  works,  which  were  completely  enveloped  in  smoke 
from  the  bursting  shrapnel.  The  guns  were  fired  in  salvoes 
to  keep  down  the  fire  of  the  Turkish  guns,  which  however 
maintained  a  desultory  reply  throughout  the  day. 

The  Turks  are  very  careless  in  the  manner  in  which  they 
place  their  men.  The  whole  plain  below  me  was  covered 
with  camps  placed  in  close  proximity  to  the  advanced  works, 
so  that  the  Bulgarians  could  shell  all  the  reserves,  the  tents, 
and  the  long  line  of  pack  animals  taking  food  and 
ammunition  to  the  front.  They  did  not  fail  to  take 
advantage  of  this,  and  at  times  neglected  the  works  and 
concentrated  their  fire  on  the  camps,  but  the  range  was  too 
great  and  but  little  damage  was  inflicted. 

This  was  the  game  the  Bulgarians  played  so  successfully 
at  the  battle  of  Lule  Burgas,  namely,  to  demorahse  the 
Turkish  reserves  by  pounding  them  with  shrapnel.  As  a 
consequence  when  they  delivered  their  assault  on  the  front 
lines,  these  reserves  were  in  no  condition  to  advance. 

The  front  of  this  great  artillery  duel  extended  from  the 
northern  shore  of  Lake  Buyuk  Chekmedche  until  it  was  lost 
in  the  distance  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  towards  the 
Black  Sea.  There  must  have  been  from  500  to  600  guns  in 
action,  and  the  little  white  puffs  of  shrapnel  burst  so 
continuously,  that  at  times  it  was  almost  impossible  to  tell 
which  were  the  Bulgarian  and  which  the  Turkish  shells,  and 
the  valley  became  so  choked  with  smoke  that  a  mist  seemed 
to  be  rising  from  the  ground. 


THE    GENDARMES   AGAIN  273 

Then  the  g\i  ns  would  stop  for  a  few  minutes  to  allow  the 
smoke  to  clear,  so  that  the  gunners  could  obtain  a  fresh 
view  of  their  objective.  At  times  the  whole  Turkish  line 
was  completely  enveloped  by  bursting  shells,  and  the 
infantry  in  the  advanced  works  and  entrenchments  could 
not  show  their  heads  for  a  moment  above  cover ;  but  the 
casualties  were  extremely  small. 

At  two  o'clock  the  bombardment  became  more  furious 
than  ever,  and  for  some  time  the  Bulgarian  artillery  left  the 
camps  alone,  and  concentrated  every  gun  on  the  advanced 
works  in  a  manner  which  seemed  to  be  the  prelude  to  an 
infantry  assault.  Heavy  rifle  fire  broke  out  at  several 
points,  but  during  the  afternoon  the  attack  was  not  pressed 
home,  and  the  Turks  remained  in  possession  of  all  their 
positions. 

The  bombardment  continued  almost  without  cessation 
until  darkness  fell,  and  then  gradually  ceased. 

At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  it  being  quite  evident 
that  no  decisive  move  would  be  made  that  day,  and  as  the 
light  was  extremely  bad  for  seeing,  we  decided  to  ride  back 
to  the  small  farm  where  we  had  left  our  baggage  and  to  pass 
the  night  there.  I  hoped  that,  as  soon  as  we  took  the  road 
to  Buyuk  Chekmedche,  our  friends  the  gendarmes  would 
leave  us,  but  the  sergeant  declared  his  orders  were  personally 
to  conduct  us  to  Buyuk  Chekmedche,  and  therefore  he 
would  ride  with  us  the  whole  way.  I  do  not  believe  these 
were  his  orders  and  his  main  reason,  I  am  sure,  for  accom- 
panying us  was  the  hope  of  obtaining  further  backsheesh. 

It  took  us  two  hours  to  ride  back  to  the  farm,  and  on  the 
road  I  had  a  long  consultation  with  Bryant  as  to  our  future 
plans.  I  was  determined  in  no  circumstances  to  leave  the 
front  until  the  result  of  the  fighting  at  Chataldja  was 
definitely  known,  and  I  told  Bryant  he  must  arrange  with 
the  gendarmes  to  pass  the  night  with  us  at  the  farm  and  to 

T 


274         WITH   THE   TURKS   IN  THRACE 

take  us  out  to  the  front  again  on  the  following  morning  in 
return  for  a  further  payment.  It  was  almost  dark  when  we 
reached  our  camp  and  the  sergeant  was  obliged  to  admit 
himself  that  it  was  too  late  to  leave  for  Buyuk  Chekmedche 
that  evening.  We  therefore  had  the  carts  unpacked,  our 
beds  got  ready,  and  made  ourselves  as  comfortable  as  circum- 
stances would  permit. 

The  faithful  Goupa  had  prepared  an  excellent  dinner  and 
we  feasted  our  guardians  and  gave  them  whiskey  to  drink, 
until  they  became  in  an  exceedingly  amiable  mood.  Then 
Bryant  reopened  the  negotiations  and  suggested  that  they 
should  conduct  us  to  the  same  spot  at  dawn,  so  that  we  might 
follow  the  operations.  The  poor  sergeant  was  placed  in  a 
painful  dilemma.  He  declared  his  instructions  were  most 
stringent  and  that  if  he  disobeyed  them,  he  might  get  into 
most  serious  trouble  with  the  Headquarters  Staff.  On  the 
other  hand  he  was  quite  a  sportsman,  was  anxious  to  see 
the  fighting  himself  and  was  not  at  all  averse  to  making  a 
little  money.  I  suggested  to  him  that,  if  we  were  discovered 
by  Headquarters  on  the  lines,  he  should  say  we  had  passed 
through  his  patrol  during  the  night  and  that  he  had  no  idea 
we  were  there.  He  said  this  scheme  was  not  feasible, 
because  we  would  be  almost  certain  to  be  arrested  by  other 
gendarmes,  as  they  were  now  everywhere,  and,  even  if  we 
went  across  country,  it  was  extremely  unlikely  we  could 
escape  them.  Finally  he  agreed  to  take  us  out  at  dawn, 
if  we  would  promise  him  faithfully  to  return  before  night- 
fall to  Kuyuk  Chekmedche.  Content  with  this  arrangement 
we  retired  to  rest. 

We  spent  the  night  in  what  were  evidently  Byzantine 
ruins,  which  the  peasants  had  roofed  in  to  serve  as  a  dwelling 
place.  The  ragged  walls  were  blackened  with  age  and  smoke, 
and  in  the  notches  Goupa  had  stuck  tallow  candles,  so  that 
it  looked  like  a  sepulchre.     I  think  originally  that  it  must 


FIGHTING   IN   THE   MIST  275 

have  been  a  tomb  ;  anyhow,  it  was  well  in  keeping  with  the 
surrounding  atmosphere  of  death  and  corruption. 

In  the  night  I  was  awakened  by  warm  breath  upon  my 
face,  and  by  the  light  of  the  moon,  which  came  streaming 
in  through  the  open  door,  I  could  see  the  snarling  fangs  of 
a  pariah  dog,  which  had  left  feeding  off  the  carcass  of  a  dead 
horse  in  the  tobacco  plantations  to  enter  our  tomb  in  search 
of  choicer  prey,  while  outside,  his  companions  were  raising 
a  melancholy  chorus  to  the  moon. 

Donohoe  had  been  taken  ill  on  the  previous  evening  and 
could  not  leave,  so  he  remained  in  the  farm  all  day,  and  I 
told  him  I  would  tell  him  all  that  passed  up  at  the 
front.  Just  as  we  were  starting,  another  gendarme  arrived 
from  Buyuk  Chekmedche,  and  told  the  sergeant  he  was  to 
take  us  back  immediately  to  that  village,  as  the  major  in 
command  there  had  heard  we  were  at  the  farm,  and  had 
issued  orders  for  our  immediate  arrest.  But  my  brother 
and  myself,  on  hearing  this  news,  immediately  rode  off  in 
the  semi-darkness,  and  the  sergeant,  having  quieted  the 
new  arrival  by  telling  him  we  would  come  to  Kuyuk 
Chekmedche  that  evening,  followed  after  us. 

As  we  rode  to  the  position  from  which  we  had  viewed 
the  fighting  on  the  previous  day,  we  did  not  hear  any 
artillery  fire  and  believed  the  attack  of  the  Bulgarians  had 
been  suspended,  but  as  we  drew  nearer  the  sound  of  guns 
reached  us  in  a  muffled  roar.  We  had  not  heard  it  before 
owing  to  the  strong  wind  which  carried  the  sound  away 
from  us.  When  we  reached  the  high  ground  overlooking 
the  valley  in  front  of  the  Turkish  positions,  it  was  very 
difficult  to  see  anything  or  to  make  out  the  positions  of  the 
troops  and  batteries  on  either  side,  as  they  were  almost  com- 
pletely hidden  by  a  drizzhng  Scotch  mist.  It  was  a  very 
weird  sight,  because  you  no  longer  saw  the  white  puffs 
from  the  bursting  shrapnel,  but  the  red  flashes  of  the  ex- 

T  2 


276  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

plosions   in    the    air,   as   they   appear  during   night    fight- 
ing. 

We  met  several  soldiers  and  one  or  two  gendarmes,  who 
were  making  for  the  rear.  They  gave  us  the  most  alarmist 
accounts  of  the  situation.  They  said  that  some  of  the 
underlying  works  had  been  captured  by  the  Bulgarians 
during  the  night  and  that  the  latter  were  now  preparing 
for  a  general  assault  against  the  centre  of  the  position,  and 
were  actually  shelling  Hademkeuy  itself.  Shortly  afterwards 
an  officer  came  up  and  told  me  w^hat  had  happened.  He 
said  that  at  one  o'clock  that  morning  the  Bulgarian  infantry 
had  delivered  a  desperate  attack  against  some  of  the  out- 
lying works  and  had  taken  them  by  assault  after  three 
quarters  of  an  hour's  fighting. 

When  the  mist  cleared  somewhat,  it  certainly  looked  as 
if  this  statement  was  true.  The  advanced  works  were 
apparently  deserted  by  both  sides,  and  the  Bulgarians  were 
concentrating  their  artillery  fire  on  the  Turkish  camps  and 
on  Hademkeuy  itself  This  was  the  disaster  of  which  the 
retiring  soldiers  had  spoken.  But  they  were  somewhat 
premature  in  leaving  the  field.  If  the  Bulgarians  had 
really  captured  the  advanced  works  in  front  of  Hademkeuy, 
the  position  of  the  Turkish  Army  would  have  been 
extremely  precarious,  because  the  enemy  would  be  estab- 
lished in  the  arc  made  by  the  receding  circle  of  the  hills, 
formed  by  the  main  line  of  defence,  and  if  they  once  pierced 
the  centre  of  the  position  they  could  enfilade  both  wings  by 
their  artillery  fire,  and  very  possibly  cut  off  the  retreat  of 
the  troops  holding  them.  But  none  of  these  things  happened, 
and  the  day  was  devoted  to  a  heavy  artillery  fire,  which, 
being  at  too  great  a  range,  inflicted  but  very  little  damage  on 
the  Turks,  whose  total  casualties  during  the  attack  on  the 
lines  only  amounted  to  seven  hundred  kiUed  and  wounded. 
I  have  never  yet  been  able  to  arrive  at  the  truth  about  the 


HARMLESS   SHRAPNEL  277 

capture  of  these  advanced  works  and  their  occupation  by  the 
Bulgarians  on  the  night  of  November  17th  and  early 
morning  of  the  eighteenth.  I  heard  so  many  contradictory 
reports,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  say  exactly  what  did 
happen.  I  was  assured  by  many  Turkish  officers  that  the 
advanced  positions  were  actually  carried  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  but  were  abandoned  by  the  enemy  after  a  very  short 
time.  Others  assured  me  that  the  advanced  positions  were 
never  taken,  but  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Turks  until 
the  Bulgarians  finally  retired  and  ceased  their  attack.  My 
own  opinion  is  that  some  of  the  advanced  works  were  either 
captured,  or  abandoned  by  the  Turks,  but  the  Bulgarians 
found  them  untenable,  and,  after  holding  them  for  a  few 
hours  during  the  night  of  the  seventeenth,  retired  at  dawn. 

Throughout  Monday,  November  18th,  the  Bulgarians  con- 
tinued to  shell,  not  only  the  Turkish  works,  but  also  all  the 
camps  in  the  vicinity.  From  where  we  stood  there  seemed 
to  be  a  continuous  rain  of  shrapnel  bursting  over  the  troops 
of  the  1st  Corps,  and  we  saw  large  numbers  of  men 
apparently  abandon  their  positions  and  retire  for  safety  to 
the  rear.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  as  I  learnt  subsequently, 
this  shrapnel  fire  inflicted  but  very  little  damage.  The 
Bulgarians,  having  been  unable  to  find  any  suitable  artillery 
positions  close  to  the  lines,  had  to  fire  at  too  great  a 
range,  at  from  five  thousand  to  six  thousand  yards,  and  in 
consequence  the  shells  burst  far  too  high  seriously  to  incon- 
venience the  Turkish  troops  exposed  in  the  open. 

It  was  a  bitterly  cold  day,  and,  having  watched  the  bom- 
bardment for  several  hours,  at  2  p.m.  my  brother  and 
I  decided  to  return  to  the  farm  where  we  had  left  Donohoe 
and  the  baggage,  as  it  was  fairly  evident  from  the  absence 
of  all  movement  that  no  decisive  attack  would  be  attempted 
that  afternoon. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

THE    TURN   OF   THE    TIDE 

At  four  o'clock  we  were  back  again  at  the  farm,  where  I 
am  happy  to  say  we  found  Donohoe  somewhat  recovered 
and  with  no  immediate  symptoms  of  developing  cholera, 
which  we  all  feared  so  much.  I  was  considerably  mystified 
by  the  day's  operations.  The  Bulgarians  had  expended  an 
enormous  amount  of  ammunition  in  an  utterly  futile  bom- 
bardment and  had  pressed  home  no  decisive  infantry  attack. 
It  was  obvious  they  could  not  continue  this  expenditure  of 
shrapnel  indefinitely  such  a  long  way  from  their  base,  and  I 
felt  sure  that,  if  they  intended  to  make  a  decisive  and 
sustained  effort  to  take  the  lines,  it  would  be  on  the 
following  day. 

Try  as  we  would,  we  could  not  induce  the  sergeant  to 
allow  us  to  remain  at  the  farm  another  night.  He  insisted 
on  our  returning  to  Buyuk  Chekmedche  and,  in  spite  of 
our  protests,  we  had  to  pack  up  the  wagon  and  take  the 
road.  I  was  determined  to  break  away  again  on  the 
following  morning,  to  move  right  over  to  the  right  wing  of 
the  Turkish  lines  and  to  endeavour  to  get  through  from  that 
side.  At  six  o'clock  we  reached  Buyuk  Chekmedche  and  put 
up  at  the  inn.  Here  we  found  one  or  two  correspondents, 
who  all  had  the  same  tale  of  woe  to  tell  about  having  been 
arrested  and  turned  back  whenever  they  tried  to  reach  the 


A   CROSS-COUNTRY    RIDE  279 

front.  That  evening  I  was  very  busy  writing  despatches 
which  had  to  leave  Constantinople  for  Constanza  by  the 
boat  the  following  afternoon. 

At  dawn  on  Tuesday  we  were  astir  and  the  carts  were 
once  more  packed.  Donohoe  and  my  brother  were  to  return 
to  Constantinople,  as  the  latter  was  now  going  back  to 
England.  They  took  the  road  in  the  motor-car  we  had  hired, 
which  had  remained  at  Buyuk  Chekmedche  ever  since  our 
arrival  there  a  week  before.  Goupa  was  to  take  charge  of 
the  wagon  and  the  stores  and  to  see  them  safely  into  the 
town.  Bryant  and  I  took  the  two  freshest  horses,  abandoned 
everything  except  two  days'  supplies,  and  followed  by  two 
gendarmes  who,  I  fancy,  suspected  some  new  move  on  our 
part,  we  ostensibly  took  the  road  for  Constantinople  also. 

But  after  having  ridden  for  two  miles  and  having  shaken 
off  the  gendarmes,  we  turned  inland,  and,  avoiding  all  villages 
and  all  roads  where  we  would  be  likely  to  find  gendarmes 
stationed,  we  made  for  the  extreme  right  of  the  line.  All 
that  day  we  rode  through  hilly  country,  having  at  times  to 
make  long  detours  and  more  than  once  becoming  lost.  But 
Bryant,  who  knows  the  country  well,  and  who  has  a  natural 
instinct  for  finding  his  way  about,  always  managed  to  get 
on  the  track  again.  Knowing  Turkish  methods,  I  was 
inclined  to  think  that,  once  we  had  arrived  on  the  right 
of  the  line,  no  one  would  interfere  with  us,  as  it  was 
more  than  probable  that  Nazim's  order  to  expel  all  foreigners 
from  the  front  had  only  been  issued  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Hademkeuy. 

It  was  an  extremely  hot  day,  our  horses  were  tired  and 
our  progress  was  not  rapid,  but  we  were  comforted  by  the 
entire  absence  of  any  artillery  fire.  A  few  rounds  were 
fired  early  in  the  morning,  but  it  quickly  died  down  again 
and  everything  remained  still  throughout  the  rest  of  the 
day.      This  showed  that  the   Bulgarian  attack  had  been 


280  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

suspended  and  at  least  we  were  missing  nothing  for  the 
time  being.  About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  having 
covered  some  thirty-five  miles,  we  entered  the  hilly  and 
wooded  country  which  extends  all  the  way  to  Derkos  and 
which  forms  part  of  the  Forest  of  Belgrade.  It  was  im- 
possible to  pass  through  this  and  we  were  obliged  to  strike 
the  Derkos  road.  We  very  soon  came  to  a  transport  train, 
which  was  resting  on  the  roadside,  and  also  to  a  post  of 
gendarmerie,  but  the  latter  took  not  the  slightest  notice  of 
us.  It  was  therefore  evident  that  Nazim's  order  of  expulsion 
was  unknown  to  the  officials  on  this  side. 

As  it  was  now  growing  dark,  we  decided  to  pass  the  night 
at  the  first  village  we  came  to,  and  this  turned  out  to  be 
Arnautkeuy,  pleasantly  situated  just  off  the  high  road  and 
inhabited  by  Greeks.  There  was  a  large  field  hospital 
established  in  the  village,  and  the  Colonel  in  command 
of  the  hospital,  having  discovered  our  presence,  sent  for 
us.  I  showed  him  my  pass,  and  he  received  us  most 
graciously  and  at  once  sent  for  the  head  man  of  the  village 
to  find  us  a  house  in  which  we  could  pass  the  night.  This 
Colonel  was  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and  enlightened 
Turks  I  met  during  the  campaign.  He  had  only  been  at 
the  front  a  few  days,  as  he  was  in  Paris  studying  bacterio- 
logy when  the  war  broke  out,  and  was  recalled  by  telegraph 
to  join  the  army  in  the  field.  He  had  made  a  special  study 
of  cholera  and  told  me  many  interesting  details  about  the 
disease.  He  was  an  out  and  out  Young  Turk  and  had  been 
obliged  to  live  abroad  for  many  years  during  the  reign  of 
Abdul  Hamid. 

The  head  man  of  the  village  found  us  a  very  comfortable 
house,  which  was  kept  by  a  Greek  lady  and  her  husband,  who 
made  us  very  comfortable  for  the  night,  and  we  were  also 
able  to  procure  some  chickens  and  eggs.  It  was  evident 
from  the   Colonel's    attitude   towards    me    that  he    knew 


^    k 


■^ 


i 


The  Trenches  at  Chatai.dja. 


..j<* u   '■'M^ 

\Photo  '-Daily  Mirror" 

Waiting  kor  the  Bulgarians  at  Chataldja. 


ARNAUTKEUY  281 

absolutely  nothing  of  Nazim's  order  in  regard  to  all 
foreigners,  and  he  was  only  too  anxious  to  assist  me  in 
every  way  in  his  power.  He  warned  me  that  it  would  be 
extremely  dangerous  to  move  off  the  high  roads,  as  the 
Bulgarian  peasants  and  sympathisers  in  the  villages  had 
commenced  to  snipe  Turkish  patrols  and  to  kill  off  any 
fugitives  who  were  trying  to  make  their  way  to  Constanti- 
nople. Bryant  and  I  were  amazed  on  our  ride  across 
country  at  the  number  of  stragglers  we  found  hidden  in  the 
villages  and  amongst  the  hills.  These  men  all  gave  a  most 
gruesome  description  of  the  state  of  the  army.  They  said 
that  men  were  starving  and  that  it  would  be  impossible  for 
the  army  to  hold  the  line,  if  the  Bulgarians  only  attacked  in 
force.  I  determined  to  lie  low  in  Arnautkeuy  until  the 
fighting  actually  started  again,  so  as  not  to  attract  attention, 
and  to  risk  the  chance  of  being  arrested  by  meddlesome 
gendarmes. 

On  Wednesday  morning  there  was  no  firing  at  the  front, 
so  I  remained  in  the  village  and  gave  the  horses  a  good 
rest  of  which  they  were  badly  in  need.  About  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  we  were  surprised  to  hear  a  motor 
approaching,  and,  going  out  on  the  high  road,  I  found 
my  brother  and  Donohoe  and  a  doctor  from  the  British  Red 
Cross  in  the  Minerva  car.  They  had  left  Constantinople 
that  morning  and  could  only  get  out  of  the  town,  all  the 
entrances  to  which  were  stopped,  by  bearing  the  red  cross 
on  their  arms.  I  told  them  that  all  was  quiet  at  the  front 
and  they  returned  to  Constantinople  the  same  evening. 

On  the  following  morning,  Thursday,  November  21st,  all 
was  quiet,  but,  as  I  was  tired  of  being  shut  up  in  Arnautkeuy, 
I  decided  to  make  my  way  once  more  to  the  front,  to 
examine  carefully  the  positions  of  the  opposing  armies 
and  to  find  if  the  fighting  was  really  over,  or  if  the 
Bulgarians  meditated  any  further  attack  on  the  Chataldja 


282  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

lines.  At  eight  o'clock  Bryant  and  myself  left  the  village 
to  ride  across  country  to  endeavour  to  reach  Yasoren, 
where  we  learnt  we  would  find  Mahmoud  Mukhtar,  the 
Commander  of  the  3rd  Corps.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he 
had  been  wounded  whilst  making  a  reckless  reconnaissance 
on  Tuesday  morning  and  had  been  taken  back  by  train 
to  Constantinople,  but  I  had  not  heard  this  news  at  the 
time. 

Just  outside  the  village  we  were  surprised  to  find  the 
bodies  of  no  fewer  than  130  Turkish  soldiers  who  had 
died  of  cholera  in  the  houses  of  Arnautkeuy  during  the 
previous  48  hours.  They  were  all  thrown  into  one  big 
pit  dug  by  the  Greek  villagers  and  covered  with  a  thin 
layer  of  earth.  On  our  way  to  the  front  we  passed  through 
several  villages  containing  troops  but  no  one  inquired 
our  business  and  we  got  through  the  permanent  camps 
of  the  troops  holding  the  advanced  line  of  works,  without 
any  difficulty.  There  was  no  sign  of  any  enemy  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  and  not  a  shot  was  fired  throughout 
the  morning.  I  saw  at  once  that  a  great  change  had  come 
over  the  spirit  of  the  Turkish  Army,  now  that  the  Bulgarian 
attack  on  the  lines  had  been  successfully  repulsed. 

As  I  rode  along  the  positions  over  the  open  plateau 
behind  the  forts  it  was  difficult  to  believe  that  the  army 
was  not  merely  engaged  in  peace  exercises.  Bands  were 
playing  in  the  camps  and  the  men  one  met  on  the  road 
looked  both  cheerful  and  confident  and  had  a  very  different 
demeanour  from  the  sullen,  depressed,  careworn  crowd  who 
had  survived  the  debacle  of  Lule  Burgas.  The  infantry 
were  being  drilled  in  open  order  exercises,  close  order 
ormations,  bayonet  charges,  and  rifle  practice.  Numerous 
targets  had  been  set  up  and  squads  of  men  were  endeavour- 
ing to  hit  improvised  bullseyes,  but  generally  with  very 
poor  success. 


PEACE   MANCEUVRES  283 

This  spectacle  of  a  large  army,  which  had  been  fighting 
three  days  previously,  being  drilled  and  taught  to  shoot, 
with  the  enemy  only  a  few  miles  away,  is  surely  almost 
unique  in  the  annals  of  war.  I  was  amazed  at  all  I  saw. 
It  was  almost  impossible  to  believe  I  was  in  the  presence  of 
the  same  army,  which  a  fortnight  before  had  been  streaming 
back  to  Constantinople  without  officers,  without  discipline, 
the  men  starving  and  hopelessly  demoralised.  Certainly 
Nazim  Pasha  and  his  fellow  workers  deserve  every  credit 
for  the  remarkable  transformation  they  worked  in  a  short 
time. 

This  recovery  shows  clearly  of  what  the  Turkish  Army  is 
capable,  if  only  it  is  properly  handled  and  given  anjrthing 
like  a  chance.  I  have  already  mentioned  the  vast  improve- 
ment in  the  moral  of  the  Army,  which  followed  the  arrival 
of  the  picked  battalions  from  Erzeroum,  Trebizond,  and 
Smyrna.  These  men  had  not  suffered  defeat  or  privation. 
They  were  being  fairly  well  fed  and  kept  clear  of  cholera  as 
far  as  possible,  and  in  consequence,  having  successfully 
resisted  the  Bulgarian  attack  and  having  suffered  but  very 
few  casualties,  they  were  spoiling  for  another  brush  with 
the  enemy.  Of  the  original  army  which  was  defeated  at 
Lule  Burgas,  most  of  the  weaklings  were  now  under  the 
soil  and  the  old  and  useless  reservists  had  been  sent  back  to 
their  homes.  Thus  there  was  now  concentrated  along  the 
lines  of  Chataldja  a  powerful  army,  the  organisation  of 
which  was  improving  every  day.  Trains  were  regularly 
bringing  up  food  and  medical  stores  from  Constantinople, 
and  already  a  reserve  supply  of  five  days'  provisions  had 
been  collected  at  the  front. 

It  was  calculated  that  the  Turks  had  at  this  time  one 
hundred  thousand  men  concentrated  along  this  strong  de- 
fensive position,  and  that  reinforcements  were  arriving  at  the 
rate  of  two  thousand  a  day.      I  also  noticed  a  very  great 


284  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

improvement  in  the  hospitals.  The  whole  of  the  cholera 
patients  had  been  cleared  out  of  Hademkeuy  and  were  now 
isolated  in  special  camps,  where  the  victims  could  obtain 
some  attention.  The  cholera  itself  was  showing  pronounced 
signs  of  diminishing,  which  was  partly  due  to  the  more 
sanitary  arrangements  now  in  vogue,  but  chiefly  to  the  cold 
spell,  which  had  lasted  for  three  days.  Nevertheless  it  was 
far  from  being  at  an  end,  and  every  day  hundreds  of  fresh 
victims  were  borne  away  from  the  camps  to  the  field  hospitals 
or  taken  back  by  train  to  San  Stefano,  where  the  main  cholera 
camp  had  been  established.  When  the  cholera  was  at  its 
height,  it  claimed  no  fewer  than  three  thousand  victims  per 
day,  and  it  was  calculated  that,  in  all,  the  army  of  Thrace 
lost  more  than  20,000  men  from  this  disease  alone,  in 
addition  to  large  numbers  from  dysentery  and  enteric. 

I  was  told  by  a  medical  officer  that  when  the  epidemic  was 
at  its  worst,  only  8  per  cent,  of  those  attacked  ever  recovered, 
but  afterwards,  when  the  victims  received  proper  attention, 
a  very  much  larger  number  were  saved.  But  even  now  the 
medical  authorities  were  greatly  alarmed  and  feared  an  even 
worse  outbreak  in  the  future.  The  season  was  abnormal 
and  the  rains  long  overdue.  If  the  wet  spell  came  before 
the  cold  weather  set  in,  they  feared  the  cholera  would  spread 
with  terrible  rapidity.  On  the  other  hand,  three  days  of 
snow  and  frost  would  wipe  it  out  altogether,  and  these 
happily,  arrived,  so  that  as  far  as  I  know,  cholera  has 
now  disappeared  altogether  from  the  Turkish  camps. 

I  now  learnt  from  my  own  observation  that  the  Bulgarians 
had  definitely  retired  from  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
lines,  and  I  was  told  they  had  abandoned  and  burnt 
the  railway  station  at  Chataldja.  This  retirement  took 
the  Turkish  Army  completely  by  surprise,  as  for  three  days 
past  they  had  been  expecting  a  decisive  assault  on  the  centre 
of  the  position  between  Hademkeuy  and  Yasoren.    To  meet 


"INSH  ALLAH"  285 

this  attack  they  had  brought  up  all  their  reserves,  but  even 
then  were  not  confident  of  being  able  to  hold  the  position, 
and  arrangements  were  made  for  a  general  retirement,  should 
the  necessity  arise.  That  they  contemplated  a  defeat,  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  another  defensive  position  was  being 
prepared  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Constantinople,  where 
the  Ottoman  armies,  animated  by  the  sight  of  Stamboul 
with  its  many  mosques  and  minarets  in  their  rear,  were  to 
make  one  desperate  stand  in  defence  of  Islam.  Now 
without  any  apparent  reason,  before  his  attack  had  even 
been  pressed  home,  the  enemy  had  abandoned  aU  his 
positions,  withdrawn  his  artillery  and  had  retired,  occupying 
the  high  ground  facing  the  right  wing  of  the  Turkish  Hne,  and 
was  reported  to  be  strongly  entrenching  himself. 

What  was  the  reason  for  this  sudden  abandonment  of  the 
offensive  by  the  Bulgarians  ?  No  one  has  ever  answered  the 
question  satisfactorily,  and  the  Turks,  who  were  absolutely 
amazed,  could  only  reply  "  Inshallah  "  (God  knows  !).  The 
conduct  of  the  campaign  after  the  battle  of  Lule  Burgas 
cannot  be  said  to  reflect  any  great  credit  on  Bulgarian 
generalship,  and  until  we  learn  the  official  explanation  of  the 
indefinite  attack  on  the  lines  of  Chataldja  and  the  sudden 
withdrawal,  the  Bulgarians  must  be  blamed  for  having  made 
a  very  false  move.  It  seems  fairly  obvious  that  in  their 
wildest  dreams  the  Bulgarian  General  Staff  never  expected 
to  gain  such  a  decisive  victory  as  Lule  Burgas,  and  had  never 
calculated  on  finding  themselves  within  fifteen  miles  of  Con- 
stantinople less  than  four  weeks  from  the  declaration  of  war. 
They  probably  calculated  that  the  occupation  of  the  capital 
would  at  once  bring  them  into  political  conflict  with  Europe, 
and  that  in  no  circumstances  would  they  be  permitted  by 
the  Great  Powers  to  remain  in  permanent  possession  of  the 
city.  Therefore  they  had  made  no  arrangements  for  a 
rapid  advance  after  Lule  Burgas,  as  in  all  probability,  after 


286  WITH   THE   TURKS    IN   THRACE 

defeating  the  Turkish  Army  of  Thrace,  their  original  plan 
was  to  take  up  a  strong  defence  position  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Lule  Burgas  and  there  cover  the  operations  of  the 
First  Army  which  was  besieging  Adrianople.  They 
never  anticipated,  and  neither  did  anyone  else  for  that 
matter,  the  complete  break-up  of  the  Turkish  army  and 
its  retreat  without  order  or  discipline  as  far  as  the  lines  of 
Chataldja. 

The  Bulgarians  doubtless  expected  to  see  the  Army  of 
Thrace  rally  at  Chorion  and  there  make  a  stand,  or  even 
take  the  offensive  again  after  reinforcements  had  reached  it 
from  Constantinople.  They  did  not  realise  that  there  was 
no  accumulation  of  food  supplies  nearer  than  Constantinople 
itself,  and  that  a  defeat  anywhere  in  Thrace  must  cause  the 
retirement  of  the  Turkish  Army  to  the  vicinity  of  the  capital 
itself.  The  Bulgarians,  in  fact,  under-estimated  their  own 
successes,  and  when  they  discovered  their  error  they  could 
not  take  immediate  advantage  of  the  new  situation,  which 
offered  them  every  chance  of  finishing  the  campaign  with 
a  thunderbolt,  of  capturing  the  whole  of  the  Turkish  Army, 
and  also  of  taking  the  capital.  Had  they  realised  the 
decisive  nature  of  their  victory,  or  rather  had  they  antici- 
pated such  a  victory  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  they 
would  surely  have  made  every  effort  to  pursue  the  routed 
army  and  to  pass  the  lines  of  Chataldja,  before  it  could  be 
rallied  or  reinforced.  They  would  surely  have  kept  all  their 
cavalry  in  hand  and  also  have  borrowed  cavalry  from  their 
allies.  They  would  surely  have  kept  a  couple  of  divisions 
of  infantry  in  reserve  and  formed  them  into  a  flying  column 
accompanied  by  a  minimum  of  light  transport,  and  have 
launched  them  against  the  mass  of  fugitives,  thus  keeping  up 
the  pursuit  at  all  costs.  But  not  a  regiment  of  cavalry  was  in 
hand  to  follow  on  the  heels  of  the  Turks,  as  they  swept 
in  complete  disorder  across  the  plain  between  Lule  Burgas 


THE   CAUSES   OF   THE   DELAY  287 

and  Chorlou,  and  there  was  not  a  brigade  of  infantry  in 
reserve  to  take  thfe  place  of  the  non-existent  cavalry. 

I  suppose  the  Bulgarian  offensive  had  completely  spent 
its  force  when  the  Turks  left  the  battlefield  on  the  morning 
of  Thursday,  October  31st.  Their  army  had  been  moving 
steadily  forward  ever  since  the  declaration  of  war  on 
October  16th.  In  that  short  space  of  two  weeks  it  had 
captured  Kirk  Kilisse,  defeated  the  1st  Army  Corps  on 
October  24th  and  25th,  and  had  then,  after  two  days'  respite, 
entered  on  the  three  days'  struggle  with  the  whole  of 
Abdullah's  army.  Evidently  every  available  man  had  been 
drawn  into  the  struggle,  and  on  Thursday  morning,  when 
the  Turks  retreated  in  disorder,  the  Bulgarian  infantry  were 
completely  exhausted.  They  must  also  have  been  short  of 
ammunition  after  the  tremendous  expenditure  throughout 
three  whole  days,  and  I  know  for  certain  that  the  men, 
although  not  actually  starving  like  the  Turks,  were  on  very 
short  rations. 

In  these  circumstances  Popoff  could  not  follow  up  his 
victory.  He  had  to  reorganise  his  army,  to  collect  his 
immense  number  of  wounded,  to  reorganise  his  supply 
trains  and  to  bring  up  fresh  ammunition  for  his  artillery. 
The  Turks  were  therefore  given  eighteen  days  in  which  to 
reach  Chataldja  and  to  bring  up  reinforcements  from  Con- 
stantinople. Therefore  the  Bulgarian  General  Staff  cannot 
be  blamed  for  its  failure  to  pursue  the  Army  of  Thrace  after 
Lule  Burgas. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  cannot  escape  criticism  for  its  sub- 
sequent conduct  of  the  campaign.  Probably  the  Bulgarians 
learnt  through  the  European  Press  for  the  first  time  of  the 
complete  state  of  disorganisation  and  demoralisation  which 
prevailed  amongst  the  fugitives  who  fled  from  Lule  Burgas. 
For  weeks  the  English,  German  and  French  papers  were 
full  of  descriptions  of  the   scenes  on  the  retreat.      Many 


288  WITH   THE   TURKS    IN   THRACE 

writers  who  were  not  on  the  spot,  and  who  seem  to  have 
had  but  small  idea  of  the  distance  to  be  traversed,  or  the 
immense  difficulties  to  be  overcome,  or  of  the  natural 
strength  of  the  lines  of  Chataldja,  assumed  that  it  was  only 
a  question  of  two  or  three  days  before  the  Bulgarians  would 
pass  the  lines  and  occupy  Constantinople  itself. 

Within  a  week  Europe  had  become,  so  to  speak,  perfectly 
acclimatised  to  the  idea  of  having  Czar  Ferdinand's  legions 
march  in  triumph  through  the  streets  of  Byzantium,  and 
already  many  anticipatory  descriptions  appeared  in  the  Press 
of  the  dramatic  scene,  when,  after  an  occupation  of  six 
hundred  years,  the  Turk  was  to  be  finally  driven  from  Europe 
and  the  Cross  substituted  for  the  Crescent  on  the  dome  of 
St.  Sofia.  It  was  certainly  a  dramatic  moment,  and  the 
possibilities  of  the  situation  were  enough  to  flatter  the  pride 
of  any  nation  and  any  army.  Who  in  their  wildest  dreams 
a  month  before  expected  to  see  the  army  of  little  Bulgaria 
doing  what  Russia  has  so  often  tried  and  failed?  No 
wonder,  then,  the  Bulgarian  General  Staff  acted  against  its 
better  judgment  and  allowed  sentiment  to  triumph  over 
sound  strategy.  They  were  drawn  into  a  false  move,  which, 
although  it  has  not  up  to  the  present  altered  the  result  of 
the  campaign,  has  nevertheless  rendered  the  peace  negotia- 
tions extremely  difficult  to  bring  to  a  conclusion,  because  it 
restored  the  lost  moral  of  the  Turkish  Army  in  a  manner 
which  nothing  else  could  possibly  have  done. 

King  Ferdinand  and  his  advisers  seem  to  have  argued  thus. 
Here  is  a  unique  opportunity,  which  may  never  occur  again 
and  which  is  too  good  to  be  lost.  There  is  nothing  but  a 
crowd  of  disorganised  fugitives  between  us  and  Constanti- 
nople, according  to  the  reports  of  the  European  Press.  The 
Great  Powers  do  not  seem  to  care  in  the  least  if  we  occupy 
the  capital,  so  why  should  we  not  enjoy  the  fruits  of  a 
truimph  almost  unique  in  the  annals  of  war  ?     Let  us  march 


I 


THE   LACK   OF   DECISION  289 

on  Chataldja  and  see  if  we  can  take  the  lines  and  occupy  the 
capital,  temporarily  at  least.  But  then  some  misgivings 
seem  to  have  entered  into  their  minds.  We  have  lost  large 
numbers  of  men  ;  the  army  is  exhausted  by  its  exertions  ; 
Chataldja  is  a  very  long  way  from  our  base,  and  we  shall 
have  extreme  difficulty  in  feeding  the  army  and  in  keeping 
the  artillery  supplied  with  ammunition  ;  also  the  country  is 
very  difficult  and  offers  every  advantage  to  the  defence,  and 
it  may  be  the  Turks  are  not  so  demoralised  as  some  of  the 
critics  seem  to  think.  Above  all,  it  would  be  fatal  for  us  to 
meet  with  a  decisive  check,  which  would  undo  all  the  good 
results  obtained  from  our  victory  at  Lule  Burgas.  There- 
fore it  behoves  us  to  act  with  extreme  caution  and  to  run  no 
risks.  We  have  Adrianople  on  our  hands  and,  until  the 
fortress  is  taken,  it  will  be  impossible  for  the  First  Army  to 
go  to  the  assistance  of  the  Second. 

In  these  circumstances  there  were  only  two  sound 
courses  open  which  would  have  commended  themselves 
to  the  great  masters  of  war ;  either  to  abandon  the  project 
altogether,  to  take  up  a  strong  covering  position  and 
concentrate  every  available  man  and  gun  on  Adrianople  ;  or 
else  to  risk  everything  to  obtain  the  great  prize  of  the 
campaign,  and  to  advance  on  the  lines  of  Chataldja  with 
every  available  man  and  every  available  gun.  Neither 
course  was  adopted  and  a  weak  compromise  was  decided  on 
instead;  namely,  to  advance  on  Chataldja  and  to  feel  the 
strength  of  the  lines  by  a  cross  between  a  reconnaissance  in 
force  and  a  half-hearted  attack. 

Such  a  plan  contains  the  germ  of  failure,  if  not  of  actual 
disaster,  from  its  conception.  PopofF  was  ordered  to  try  to 
shell  the  Turks  out  of  the  lines  and  to  see  if  he  could  carry 
the  positions  without  difficulty,  but  in  no  circumstances  to 
risk  a  heavy  loss  in  an  assault  which  might  fail.  It  is  no 
use  the   Bulgarians  now   making  out  that   the  attack   on 


290  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

November  17th  and  18th  was  merely  intended  as  a  recon- 
naissance in  force  to  sound  the  strength  of  the  lines 
and  to  test  the  state  of  demoralisation  of  the  Turkish 
army.  Such  a  plea  will  not  bear  examination.  Every 
available  gun  was  brought  into  action  and  a  tremen- 
dous amount  of  ammunition,  which  could  not  easily 
be  replaced,  was  expended  without  any  effective  results, 
and  the  advanced  works  were  actually  assaulted  and  some 
of  them  carried. 

The  official  excuse  of  the  Bulgarian  Government  to 
justify  the  retirement,  namely,  on  account  of  the  cholera 
at  Hademkeuy,  was  very  lame,  because  it  was  well  known 
that  the  Bulgarians  were  already  suffering  themselves 
severely  from  this  dread  disease.  This  was  ascertained 
without  a  shade  of  doubt  from  prisoners  who  were  captured 
in  front  of  the  Chataldja  lines.  All  these  men  described 
the  state  of  the  Bulgarian  Army  as  being  deplorable ;  the 
men  as  dying  in  hundreds  from  dysentery,  cholera,  and 
enteric,  and  the  whole  army  almost  on  the  verge  of  star- 
vation. These  Bulgarian  prisoners  could  only  point  to 
their  mouths  and  murmur  in  their  own  tongue  "  Food,  food," 
when  brought  into  the  Turkish  lines. 

Therefore  the  Bulgarian  attack  can  only  be  regarded  as 
a  misplaced  forlorn  hope,  which  cam^  too  late  after  Lule 
Burgas  to  meet  with  any  chance  of  success ;  and  in  the 
circumstances,  carried  out  as  it  was  in  a  half-hearted 
manner,  it  should  never  have  been  attempted.  It  led,  and 
could  lead,  to  no  definite  result ;  it  involved  a  very  serious 
expenditure  of  ammunition  and  considerable  loss  of  life, 
and  it  naturally  discouraged  the  worn-out,  overworked,  and 
underfed  Bulgarian  soldiers.  But,  as  has  been  said,  the  most 
serious  result  of  the  failure  was  the  effect  it  had  in  restoring 
the  moral  of  the  Turkish  army.  The  effect  of  the  retire- 
ment was  almost  magical.     The  Turks  at  once  passed  from 


TURKISH   SELF  DECEPTION  291 

an  almost  excessive  gloom  to  an  almost  excessive  optimism, 
and,  to  hear  the  officers  and  soldiers  talk,  one  would  have 
thought  they  had  just  w^on  a  decisive  and  glorious  victory, 
which  fully  atoned  for  their  failure  throughout  the  entire 
theatre  of  war. 


tT2 


CHAPTER    XXII 

THE   WAR   AGAINST    THE    CORRESPONDENTS 

On  this  particular  day,  Thursday,  November  21st,  Bryant 
and  I  had  ridden  close  to  the  rear  of  the  forts  of  Chataldja 
and  watched  the  army  being  drilled  and  trained  to  shoot, 
without  anyone  attempting  to  molest  us,  but  we  were  not 
destined  to  escape  without  a  strange  adventure,  which  might 
have  had  the  most  serious  results,  but  which,  fortunately 
for   ourselves,  terminated  in  nothing   worse  than  a  fright. 

About  midday  we  sat  down  on  a  small  hill  and  prepared  to 
eat  our  frugal  meal,  which  we  carried  in  our  haversacks. 
We  had  just  dismounted  and  were  eating  when  a  bullet, 
which,  to  judge  from  the  sound  of  the  report,  must  have 
been  fired  at  very  close  range,  struck  the  ground  with  a  thud 
quite  close  to  us.  We  were  both  surprised  by  it,  but  I 
calmed  Bryant's  fears  by  teUing  him  it  must  have  been  from 
a  rifle  let  off  by  mistake,  as  this  was  a  very  frequent 
occurrence  in  the  Turkish  Army.  I  had  hardly  uttered  these 
words,  when  another  bullet  struck  the  earth  even  closer  and 
threw  Bryant  into  a  worse  state  of  panic.  I  then  suggested 
to  him  the  possibility  of  our  having  taken  up  a  position  in 
rear  of  one  of  the  numerous  targets  which  had  been  set  up 
for  the  men  to  practise,  but  on  investigation  we  could  see  no 
sign  of  any  target  and  no  sign  of  any  soldiers.  We  resumed 
our  lunch,  but  five  minutes  later  three  bullets  fired  in  rapid 


SHOT   AT   BY   SENTRIES  293 

succession  all  struck  the  little  hill  very  close  to  us,  far  too  close 
to  be  pleasant,  in  fact.  I  then  suggested  to  Bryant  that  we 
should  move  elsewhere,  an  offer  he  was  more  than  willing  to 
accept. 

We  mounted  our  horses  and  were  just  riding  away, 
when  another  bullet  whistled  by  our  heads  and  caused  us  to 
put  spurs  to  our  steeds.  About  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  our 
right  we  saw  two  Turkish  soldiers  minding  a  flock  of  sheep 
and  goats,  which  were  grazing  on  the  long  grass  behind  the 
forts.  We  rode  towards  them  and  as  we  came  up  one  of 
them  was  in  the  act  of  inserting  a  clip  of  cartridges  in  the 
magazine  of  his  rifle  and  the  other  one  was  handling  his 
weapon  in  a  manner  which  did  not  serve  to  ease  our  troubled 
minds.  I  told  Bryant  to  relate  to  them  our  unpleasant 
experience  and  to  ask  if  they  could  throw  any  light  on  the 
matter.  One  of  the  soldiers  then  replied,  "  Oh  yes,  we  saw 
the  men  who  fired  at  you.  It  was  not  a  mistake,  they  did  it 
on  purpose."  "  But  why  ? "  Bryant  asked ;  *'  we  have  done 
them  no  harm  and  are  friends  of  the  Turks  and  have  been 
with  the  Turkish  Army  ever  since  the  commencement  of  the 
campaign."  "  Oh,  have  you  not  heard  ?  "  the  soldier  replied 
in  the  calmest  manner,  "A  line  of  pickets  has  been 
established,  by  order  of  the  General  Staff*,  from  Derkos  on  the 
Black  Sea  to  Buyuk  Chekmedche  on  the  Sea  of  Marmora, 
with  orders  to  shoot  at  any  foreigners  who  attempt  to  cross 
the  line  formed  by  the  pickets,  unless  accompanied  by  an 
officer  or  by  a  gendarme."  This  was  pleasant  news  indeed, 
and  Bryant  said  to  me,  "  I  think  we  had  better  return  to 
Arnautkeuy  at  once." 

Our  friend  the  soldier  then  said,  "  We  form  part  of  that 
line  of  pickets,  and  have  orders  to  shoot  at  you  as  well." 
Bryant  asked  them  whether  they  intended  to  do  so,  and 
could  only  obtain  a  very  evasive  reply. 

Meanwhile  I  took  out  my  cigarette  case  and  gave  each  of 


294  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

them  a  cigarette,  which  they  accepted  and  which  was  a  good 
sign  that  they  would  not  put  their  orders  into  immediate 
execution.  Bryant  then  said  to  me,  "  I  think  we  had  better 
come  to  terms  with  them."  I  was  entirely  of  his  opinion 
and  gave  him  carte  hlanche  to  arrange  what  he  liked.  A 
long  and  animated  discussion  then  took  place  in  Turkish,  of 
which  I  did  not  understand  a  single  word,  but  it  finally 
ended  in  Bryant  asking  me  for  one  silver  Medjie  (about  four 
shillings).  I  was  surprised  at  the  smallness  of  the  sum,  but 
the  soldiers  were  more  than  contented,  and  from  their  looks 
seemed  to  think  we  were  a  recklessly  extravagant  couple  to 
have  purchased  our   safety  at  such  a  price. 

We  were  about  to  leave  our  two  corrupt  friends,  when 
the  spokesman  of  the  party  further  alarmed  us  by  remarking, 
"  If  you  go  down  that  valley  which  you  rode  up,  those  men 
who  fired  at  you  just  now  will  be  waiting  on  the  hill  and 
will  shoot  at  you  again."  This  was  not  encouraging.  The 
soldier  then  said,  "  I  will  conduct  you  to  the  camps  in  the 
valley  behind  the  lines  and  when  you  have  passed  the 
danger  zone  I  will  leave  you."  We  accepted  his  suggestion 
with  alacrity  and  were  soon  under  way.  However,  even 
now  I  was  feeling  far  from  comfortable  and  thought  the 
soldier  might  be  leading  us  off  quietly,  so  as  to  claim  the 
honour  of  having  shot  us  for  himself.  1  told  Bryant  of  my 
fears,  but  he  replied,  "  He  has  accepted  your  bread  and 
salt  and  will  not  go  back  on  you." 

Now  from  the  first  the  soldier  behaved  in  the  most  sus- 
picious manner.  As  we  marched  along,  he  loaded  his  rifle  and 
would  keep  behind  us.  This  was  too  much  for  my  nerves,  and 
I  told  Bryant  to  call  him  up  and  to  engage  him  in  friendly 
and  sustained  conversation  on  the  weather  or  on  any  subject 
which  entered  his  head.  This  carried  us  to  the  foot  of  the 
valley,  but  then  our  escort  suddenly  left  us  and  climbed  the 
bank,  and  insisted  on  walking  parallel  with  us  in  a  very 


THE   CIRCASSIAN   GENERAL  295 

commanding  position  from  which  he  would  be  in  an  ideal 
situation  to  shoot.  I  was  now  thoroughly  certain  he  medi- 
tated some  treacherous  attack,  and  got  my  Mauser  pistol 
half  out  of  its  case,  quite  determined,  if  he  shot  at  me,  to 
shoot  back  at  him  and  then  to  run  away  as  fast  as  my  horse 
could  go.  However,  I  was  doing  this  man  an  injustice.  He 
kept  strictly  to  the  terms  of  his  contract,  and  had  merely 
climbed  up  the  side  of  the  hill  in  order  that  the  other  pickets 
might  see  he  was  escorting  us.  When  we  reached  the  per- 
manent camps  behind  the  lines,  he  showed  no  disposition  to 
leave  us,  and  said  he  must  take  us  in  person  to  his  general, 
who  would  doubtless  decide  what  steps  to  take.  There  was  no 
help  for  it,  so  we  accepted  the  situation  with  the  best  possible 
grace.  At  the  same  time  he  begged  us  to  say  nothing  about 
the  bribe. 

We  found  the  general,  a  Circassian  officer  whose  name  I 
never  discovered,  outside  a  small  house  where  he  had  his 
quarters.  He  did  not  receive  us  in  a  particularly  friendly 
manner,  and  gruffly  asked  for  my  pass.  This  I  was  able  to 
produce,  together  with  Abdullah's  letter,  and  his  attitude 
changed  at  once.  We  then  related  to  him  what  had  passed, 
but  he  merely  replied,  "  Yes,  it  is  quite  true,  a  line  of  pickets 
has  been  established  with  orders  to  shoot  all  foreigners  at 
sight."  This  is  the  pleasant  little  way  the  Turks  have  of 
doing  business.  They  give  you  no  previous  warning, 
but  shoot  you  first  and  then  explain  their  reasons  after- 
wards. 

This  incident  did  not  augur  well  for  war  correspondents  in 
the  future,  and  I  began  sincerely  to  wish  that  the  rumours 
of  an  armistice,  which  had  filled  the  air  ever  since  the  retire- 
ment of  the  Bulgarians,  would  materialise.  The  Circassian 
general  was  a  very  good  fellow,  and,  when  he  heard  I  was 
returning  to  Constantinople,  gave  me  a  pass  authorising  me 
to  come  back  to  his  headquarters,   and  promised   to  give 


296  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

me  an  officer  who  would  personally  show  me  round  the  lines. 
Then  we  said  good-bye  and  started  on  our  return  to 
Arnautkeuy. 

Bryant's  nerves  had  now  quite  given  way  and,  whenever 
we  met  a  soldier,  he  was  convinced  he  meant  to  shoot 
at  us.  He  stopped  behind  at  every  village  and  declared 
the  water  was  better  there  than  elsewhere,  but  later  on 
I  noticed  his  courage  had  revived  and  he  was  willing  to 
ride  to  any  part  of  the  lines  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or 
night.  I  then  found  he  had  been  indulging  freely  in 
the  native  "rakki,"  a  foul  brandy  which  is  on  sale  in  all 
the  villages  throughout  Thrace. 

After  what  had  happened  I  determined  to  return  to 
Constantinople  and  to  seek  out  the  Censor,  Major  Vasfi, 
and  to  find  out  from  him  definitely  what  the  position  of 
correspondents  really  was,  and  if  I  would  be  allowed  up 
to  the  front  again  in  the  event  of  the  war  being  continued. 
I  was  now  thoroughly  weary  of  being  continually  arrested 
and  hampered,  and  the  affair  of  the  afternoon  had  come  as 
the  final  blow.  On  reaching  Arnautkeuy,  I  was  fortunate 
enough  to  find  my  brother,  who  had  motored  out  for  news, 
and,  leaving  Bryant  instructions  to  follow  with  the  horses 
and  kit  on  the  following  day,  I  was  soon  being  bumped 
over  vile  roads  towards  the  Pera  Palace  Hotel. 

On  my  return  to  Constantinople  I  found  the  air  full  of 
rumours  of  the  armistice.  It  was  reported  that  at  any  hour 
Nazim  and  Savoff  would  meet  and  discuss  the  conditions  for 
a  temporary  cessation  of  hostilities,  and  would  then  proceed 
to  a  discussion  of  the  conditions  of  peace  themselves.  I 
found  most  of  my  friends  under  orders  to  return  home. 
My  brother  sailed  on  the  Saturday  after  my  return,  and 
both  Lionel  James  and  Donohoe,  exhausted  by  their 
tremendous  exertions  and  disgusted  by  their  treatment  at 
the  hands  of  the  authorities,  were   packing   up   and  only 


MAJOR   VASFI  297 

waiting  the  definite  news  of  the  signing  of  the  armistice 
before  taking  the  first  steamer  home. 

I  found  all  the  correspondents  back  in  Constantinople. 
All  had  the  same  sad  story  to  tell  of  having  been  arrested 
by  gendarmes  and  placed  on  the  road  to  Stamboul.  This 
news  and  the  departure  of  my  friends  made  me  doubly 
anxious  to  leave  also  and  I  telegraphed  for  permission, 
but  received  orders  to  "wait  just  a  little  longer."  I  soon 
grew  weary  of  Constantinople  and  decided  that,  if  I  was 
obliged  to  remain  in  the  country,  I  would  prefer  to  be 
out  in  the  open  air  with  the  army  rather  than  pass  my 
time  in  the  enervating  stuffy  air  of  Pera  with  its  foul  smells 
and  equally  offensive  rumours.  I  sought  out  the  Press 
Censor,  Major  Vasfi,  whom  by  the  way  I  had  never  yet 
seen,  but  of  whom  I  had  heard  many  funny  stories  from  my 
brother  and  from  others  who  had  been  brought  in  contact 
with  him.  Therefore  one  morning,  accompanied  by  the 
faithful  Ismet,  who  was  also  anxious  to  return  to  the  front, 
I  waited  upon  him  at  his  house. 

Major  Vasfi  is  a  strange  type,  a  Turk  who  has  been 
educated  in  the  school  of  Prussian  discipline  and  who  has 
taken  everything  German  as  his  model.  He  is  not  a  soldier, 
but  a  civilian  who  was  formerly  a  member  of  the  Turkish 
Parhament.  On  the  outbreak  of  war  he  was  given  the 
honorary  rank  of  Major,  and  was  appointed  as  Press  Censor 
and  general  factotum  to  all  the  correspondents.  A  more 
unfitting  choice  could  surely  not  have  been  made.  He 
possessed  truly  Prussian  ideas  of  discipline,  but  on  the  other 
hand  he  was  totally  incapable  of  carrying  his  resolutions 
into  effect  and  was  also  incapable  of  making  up  his  mind. 

When  he  was  up  at  Chorion  with  the  correspondents  and 
the  guns  of  Lule  Burgas  were  heard  for  the  first  time  his 
one  object  was  to  lead  everyone  away  from  the  battlefield 
instead  of  towards  it.     In  reply  to  all  protests  he  would  say, 


298  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

"  But  you  cannot  go  there,  they  are  fighting  ;  we  must  ride 
towards  Constantinople."  Of  course  after  this  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  element  would  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  him, 
and  dispersed  on  their  own  account.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  German  correspondents,  educated  in  the  same  school  of 
Prussian  thought  and  of  Prussian  discipline  as  himself, 
would  never  leave  his  side,  and  the  Frenchmen,  although 
they  heaped  abuse  on  his  devoted  head,  also  remained  with 
him  at  the  front  and  during  the  retreat.  Thus  poor  Vasfi, 
after  Lule  Burgas,  arrived  back  in  Constantinople,  surrounded 
by  a  crowd  of  disgruntled  Germans  and  Frenchmen  and 
other  stray  nationalities,  but  without  one  single  Englishman. 
In  consequence  he  was  peculiarly  bitter  against  all  English- 
men and  especially  against  Donohoe,  who,  I  fancy,  had  told 
him  exactly  what  he  thought  of  him  on  more  than  one 
occasion. 

However,  as  he  had  never  set  eyes  on  me  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  campaign,  Vasfi  had  nothing  personal  against 
me,  and  received  both  Ismet  and  myself  in  a  most  friendly 
manner  in  his  house.  We  talked  on  general  matters  for 
some  minutes,  and  then  1  broached  the  delicate  subject  of 
the  censorship  and  of  the  future  position  of  correspondents 
with  the  army.  Then  at  once  Vasfi's  attitude  changed. 
His  face  became  pale  with  anger,  he  got  up  from  his  chair 
and  walked  about  the  room,  heaping  a  torrent  of  abuse  on 
all  the  English  war  correspondents,  but  on  Donohoe  in 
particular,  and  kept  on  saying,  "  Ah,  if  I  could  only  meet 
him  in  the  field.  He  has  insulted  me  and  disobeyed  my 
orders,  and  all  the  English  are  the  same.  I  took  them  up  to 
the  front,  I  kept  them  all  together,  and  then,  when  we  heard 
the  guns,  they  all  went  away  and  I  have  not  been  able  to 
collect  them  since.  And  what  have  you  been  doing?  I 
have  been  looking  everywhere  for  you  and  I  have  not  seen 
you  since  the  war  started."     Ismet  and  myself  could  hardly 


A   STORMY   INTERVIEW  299 

restrain  our  laughter  at  the  sight  of  this  funny  httle  fat  man 
strutting  up  and  down  the  room  hvid  with  indignation  that 
anyone  should  have  attempted  to  disobey  him. 

However,  when  he  had  calmed  down,  I  pointed  out  that 
the  authorities  had  not  kept  their  word  with  the  corres- 
pondents and  had  given  them  none  of  the  promised  facilities 
for  the  dispatch  of  news  from  the  front.  He  was  obliged  to 
admit  the  truth  of  this,  and  confessed  that  the  initial  cause 
of  all  the  trouble  was  the  failure  of  the  authorities  to  provide 
a  French  or  English  censor. 

But  it  was  not  so  much  the  censorship  which  riled  him, 
as  the  feeling  that  he  himself  had  been  personally  slighted 
and  ignored,  and  in  a  very  few  minutes  he  had  worked 
himself  into  a  passion.  He  went  on,  *'  This  evening  I 
am  going  up  to  Hademkeuy  to  see  Nazim.  I  am  going 
to  ask  him  for  instructions.  I  shall  advise  him  to  keep 
all  the  war  correspondents  locked  up  in  Constantinople  and 
•refuse  them  any  further  permission  to  come  to  the  front. 
But  if  he  says  they  are  to  be  allowed  up,  then  I  shall 
urge  him  to  make  the  most  stringent  regulations  and  only  to 
allow  those  of  them  up  who  are  friendly  to  Turkey."  Then 
in  his  rage  he  gave  the  whole  secret  away  by  saying,  "  We 
find  we  do  not  obtain  enough  advantage  out  of  the  European 
Press.  The  majority  of  the  papers  work  against  us,  there- 
fore why  should  we  give  them  facilities  for  seeing  the  war  ? 
We  admit  we  broke  faith  with  you  in  the  first  place  by  not 
having  the  promised  facilities  for  the  dispatch  of  messages 
from  the  front,  and  therefore  I  don't  blame  any  corre- 
spondents who  left  of  their  own  accord  to  send  off  news, 
because  they  were  quite  unable  to  carry  on  their  legitimate 
work.  But,  if  the  war  lasts,  we  are  going  to  make  fresh 
arrangements.  In  future  we  will  only  allow  the  corre- 
spondents of  those  papers  with  the  army,  who  will  work  in 
the  interests  of  Turkey.     The  correspondents  of  all  those 


300  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

papers  which  have  been  opposed  to  Turkey  in  the  past  or 
during  the  present  war  will  be  kept  in  Constantinople  or 
else  expelled  from  the  Empire,  and  those  who  are  officially 
allowed  to  accompany  the  army,  will  have  to  sign  a  document 
undertaking  to  remain  until  the  war  is  over,  and  only  news 
favourable  to  us,  either  political  or  military,  will  be  allowed 
through." 

I  pointed  out  to  the  irate  Vasfi  how  absurd  such  a 
system  was,  and  how  no  paper  of  any  repute  would  consent 
to  keep  representatives  up  at  the  front  under  such  conditions. 
I  also  asked  him  whether  we  would  have  to  send  defeats  as 
victories,  to  which  he  replied,  "  You  will  have  to  send 
exactly  what  the  Headquarters  think  fit." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Turks  were  contemplating 
the  organisation  of  a  spoon-fed  Press  campaign  in  their  own 
favour  quite  irrespective  of  the  truth.  Major  Vasfi  went 
so  far  as  to  declare  that  we  had  no  right  to  report  the  battle 
of  Lule  Burgas  as  a  defeat  and  that  in  future  even  a  crushing 
disaster  of  this  character  would  be  suppressed.  I  left  the 
gallant  Major,  feeling  that  from  my  point  of  view  it  would  be 
much  more  satisfactory  if  the  war  came  to  an  immediate 
conclusion. 

On  Monday,  November  25th,  I  left  Constantinople  for  the 
front  for  the  last  time.  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  ride  out 
to  Arnautkeuy  to  pick  up  my  horses  and  Bryant,  and  then  on 
the  following  day  to  make  no  effort  at  further  concealment 
but  to  ride  boldly  into  Hademkeuy  and  see  Nazim  or  his 
Chief  of  Staff  and  find  out  definitely  what  arrangements 
would  be  made  for  correspondents  in  the  future.  I  expected 
to  find  Major  Vasfi  and  Ismet  out  there,  as  they  both  told 
me  they  were  leaving  on  the  night  of  my  interview  to  consult 
with  the  Headquarters  Staff.  With  great  difficulty  I  hired 
a  motor  to  carry  me  as  far  as  Hademkeuy.  I  had  not 
employed  either  the  chauffeur  or  the  car  before,  but  just 


ESCAPING   FROM   CONSTANTINOPLE      301 

before  starting  I  was  warned  by  one  of  my  German  friends 
that  the  chauffeur  was  a  scoundrel,  who  was  in  the  habit  of 
demanding  money  in  advance,  then  taking  his  passengers 
half-way  to  their  destination,  and  then  saying  the  road  was 
too  bad  to  go  any  further  and  obliging  them  to  return  to 
Constantinople.  I  took  a  young  Englishman  named  Morton 
with  me,  who  belongs  to  Constantinople  and  who  speaks 
the  language  perfectly.  I  was  not  much  impressed  by 
the  look  of  the  chauffeur  or  of  his  friend  whom  he 
brought   with   him   as   an  assistant. 

By  this  time  all  the  gates  leading  from  Stamboul  were 
closed  and  no  correspondents  could  get  out  by  them,  as 
they  were  immediately  stopped  by  the  posts  of  gendarmes. 
We  had,  therefore,  to  motor  out  by  way  of  the  Sweet 
Waters,  which  route  the  Turks,  with  their  usual  short- 
sightedness, had  omitted  to  guard,  as  they  were  under 
the  impression  no  motor  could  negotiate  the  almost  im- 
possible roads.  However,  some  enterprising  Germans  had 
found  a  way  through  and  explained  the  road  I  must 
take.  At  one  point  we  had  a  fearful  climb  up  an  almost 
precipitous  mountain  side,  but  the  car  was  a  powerful  one, 
and  we  reached  the  top  and  were  soon  on  the  main  Derkos 
road.  We  thought  our  troubles  were  at  an  end,  when 
suddenly  an  officer  and  four  soldiers  rushed  into  the  middle 
of  the  road,  holding  up  their  hands  to  make  us  stop.  We 
slowed  down  the  car  a  trifle  and  as  we  came  up  to  them 
Morton  shouted  out  in  Turkish,  "  Red  Crescent,"  while  at 
the  same  time  I  produced  a  badge  with  a  large  Crescent  in 
red  embroidered  on  it.  The  officer  smiled,  stepped  back, 
and  we  were  allowed  to  proceed. 

Unfortunately  we  had  started  from  Constantinople  some- 
what late  and  had  taken  longer  on  the  road  than  we  antici- 
pated, and  the  light  was  failing  before  we  reached 
Arnautkeuy,  but  there  was  still  ample  time  to  arrive  before 


302  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

it  was  too  dark  for  the  chauffeur  to  find  his  way  over  the 
very  broken  track  on  which  we  now  entered.  But  now 
the  warning  of  my  German  friend  came  true.  The  chauffeur 
started  to  create  all  sorts  of  difficulties  and  declared  he  could 
proceed  no  further  and  must  return  before  night  set  in  to 
Constantinople.  I  ordered  him  to  go  on,  and,  backing  up 
my  words  with  suggestive  threats  from  my  hunting  crop, 
induced  him  to  proceed  a  short  distance  further,  when  he 
deliberately  drove  the  car  into  the  worst  part  of  the  track. 
He  then  got  out  and  said  he  must  examine  the  road  in 
advance  before  going  any  further.  1  told  him  my  car  had 
often  been  over  it  before  and  said  I  would  show  him  the 
way,  but  he  insisted  on  examining  it  for  himself.  In  fact 
his  one  object  was  to  dawdle  about  until  he  knew  it  would 
be  too  late  to  continue,  and  then  to  force  me  to  return  with 
him  to  Constantinople.  He  went  on  some  distance,  wasted 
a  precious  half  hour  and  then  returned  saying  it  was  quite 
impossible  to  proceed. 

I  realised  from  the  first  he  intended  some  move  of  this 
sort  and  I  had  meanwhile  dispatched  Morton  a  mile  back 
to  a  point  where  we  had  left  some  mule-wagons  on  their 
way  to  Constantinople.  I  told  him  to  hire  one  of  these 
at  any  price  and  to  return  with  it  to  the  motor.  When 
Morton  came  back  with  the  cart,  it  was  almost  dark  and 
too  dangerous  either  to  reach  Arnautkeuy  or  to  return  to 
Constantinople  in  the  car.  I  had  all  my  baggage  taken 
out  and  placed  in  the  mule-wagon,  and  also  every  scrap 
of  food  and  drink,  and  then,  without  another  word  to  either 
the  chauffeur  or  his  companion,  we  mounted  the  cart  our- 
selves and  were  soon  on  the  road  to  Arnautkeuy.  I  have 
never  seen  two  villains  more  completely  sold.  They  had  not 
received  a  penny.  They  could  not  return  to  Constantinople, 
and  were  left  stranded  in  a  rut  in  a  lonely  district  without 
food,  without  drink,  and  without  any  shelter  for  the  night. 


AN   ORGIE  303 

which  was  bitterly  cold.  They  thus  passed  a  miserable 
night  and  returned  to  Constantinople  on  the  following 
morning,  having  learnt  a  lesson  they  will  not  forget  for 
many  a  long  day. 

We  had  a  three  hours'  ride  over  execrable  roads  before 
arriving  at  Arnautkeuy  at  nine  that  night.  We  went  straight 
to  the  house  I  had  occupied  before,  expecting  to  find  supper 
awaiting  us  and  my  servants  waiting  to  receive  me.  But, 
alas  I  this  was  not  to  be.  I  hammered  some  time  on  the 
door  without  obtaining  any  response,  and  it  was  fully  five 
minutes  before  the  old  Greek  lady  crept  downstairs  and 
gazed  gingerly  at  us  through  the  keyhole,  wondering  who 
the  intruders  could  be  who  disturbed  her  at  this  hour.  We 
were  then  admitted  and  I  asked  where  I  would  find  Bryant 
and  the  dragoman.  "  They  are  upstairs,  asleep,"  she  replied 
in  a  strangely  suspicious  manner.  No  sooner  had  I  entered 
the  house  than  I  was  conscious  of  a  strong  smell  of  whiskey, 
cognac,  and  absinthe,  which  hung  over  the  upper  storey 
like  the  miasma  from  a  bog.  I  entered  the  room  which  I 
had  formerly  occupied  and  there  found  Bryant  asleep  and 
snoring  profoundly  on  my  bed,  and  the  other  dragoman 
in  a  comatose  position  on  the  divan.  Scattered  in  hopeless 
confusion  about  the  room  were  the  remains  of  a  meal, 
empty  bottles,  and  tumblers.  I  saw  at  once  1  was  not 
expected  that  evening,  and  that  my  intrusion  would  be 
most  unwelcome.  However,  I  kicked  both  sleepers  until 
they  awoke,  and  their  surprise  at  seeing  me  turn  up  at 
this  hour  was  immense.  They  staggered  to  their  feet,  but 
experienced  considerable  difficulty  in  maintaining  an  upright 
position,  and  then  it  took  them  some  time  to  collect  their 
scattered  thoughts.  Then  each  in  turn  started  abusing 
the  other,  and  making  mutual  accusations  of  insobriety. 
I  told  them  to  cease  endeavouring  to  saddle  the  other  with 
his  exact  share  of  guilt,  but  to  clear  out  of  the  room,  open 


304  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

all  the  windows,  remove  the  debris,  and  prepare  supper. 
Very  shamefacedly  they  went  about  their  task  and  at  length 
we  obtained  some  supper.  This  is  a  typical  example  of 
what  one  has  to  put  up  with  in  Turkey.  If  your  back 
is  turned  for  a  single  instant,  your  servants  at  once  take 
advantage  of  the  fact. 

On  the  following  morning  I  started  for  my  last  ride  to  the 
lines  of  Chataldja,  accompanied  by  Bryant,  and,  leaving 
Morton  in  charge  of  the  house  and  my  belongings,  promising 
to  return  that  same  evening.  On  the  road  I  took  the 
opportunity  to  admonish  Bryant  severely  on  his  conduct. 
He  promised  not  to  offend  again,  but  it  was  easy  for  us  to 
see  that  his  days  of  utility  were  numbered.  His  nerve  had 
gone.  He  could  not  bear  to  approach  a  Turkish  soldier,  and 
expected  every  minute  to  be  shot.  He  implored  me  not  to 
attempt  to  pass  through  the  lines  again  without  first  obtain- 
ing an  officer  or  gendarme  as  an  escort.  I  saw  it  was  useless 
to  attempt  to  go  anywhere  further  with  him,  and  agreed  to 
pay  a  visit  to  the  Circassian  general  at  Tursunkeuy,  who  had 
promised  to  give  us  an  officer  to  take  us  round  the  lines. 

This  officer  once  more  received  us  in  a  most  friendly 
way,  but  I  could  see  that  his  manner  was  somewhat 
restrained.  Then  he  told  us  he  had  received  orders  from 
headquarters  not  to  allow  any  Europeans  to  pass  through 
the  lines,  and  that  he  must  send  them  all  back  to  Constanti- 
nople. I  told  him  I  wished  to  go  to  Hademkeuy  to  see 
Nazim  myself,  and  asked  him  to  allow  me  to  do  this.  To 
this  arrangement  he  consented. 

Meanwhile  a  heavy  rainstorm  had  come  on,  and  we  were 
delayed  for  a  considerable  time  in  the  house.  Here  I  had  a 
long  talk  with  the  owner,  a  very  enlightened  Young  Turk, 
who  spoke  French  perfectly.  He  told  me  he  had  been  exiled 
during  the  reign  of  Abdul  Hamid,  but  had  returned  when 
the   Young   Turks   came   into   power,  expecting  to  see   a 


A    TRAGEDY   OF   WAR  305 

transformation  worked  in  his  country.  But  he  found  the 
Young  Turks  very  Httle  better  than  the  old  regime.  He 
was  extremely  bitter  against  them  for  some  of  the  political 
appointments  they  had  made  of  men  without  abihty  and 
without  experience,  who  had  done  much  harm  to  the  country. 
I  rather  gathered  he  was  angry  at  not  having  received  some 
appointment  himself.  But  whatever  his  reason,  he  had  had 
enough  of  political  life,  and  had  decided  to  retire  and  devote 
himself  for  the  remainder  of  his  days  to  farming  and  wine- 
growing and  tobacco-raising.  He  had  bought  a  large  tract 
of  land  behind  the  lines  of  Chataldja,  had  bought  vines  at 
great  expense,  and  had  built  himself  the  house  in  which  we 
were  now  sitting. 

He  went  on :  "  The  first  two  years  I  did  not  do  so  very 
well,  as  numbers  of  my  vines  died  from  the  blight,  but  last 
year  I  was  more  than  compensated.  Now  look  at  this." 
He  took  me  to  the  window,  and  I  gazed  on  his  land.  The 
vines  had  been  trampled  down  by  the  passage  of  armed 
men ;  his  garden  had  been  denuded  of  everything,  and  was 
now  the  site  of  a  camp,  and  the  young  trees  which  he  had 
planted  had  either  been  cut  down  or  were  now  resounding  to 
the  blows  of  the  soldiers'  axes.  Nevertheless,  like  a  good 
patriot,  he  had  placed,  without  any  hope  of  compensation, 
everything  he  possessed  at  the  disposal  of  the  authorities,  and 
had  given  up  his  best  rooms  to  the  General  and  his  Staff. 
He  laughed  at  the  idea  of  the  Bulgarians  being  able  to  force 
the  lines,  and  said,  "  We  are  far  too  strong ;  there  are  now 
really  three  positions  all  fortified  one  behind  the  other.  But 
it  is  impossible  for  the  army  to  move  from  here.  It  has  no 
organisation ;  the  roads  are  non-existent,  and  they  have  no 
means  of  feeding  the  men,  if  they  lead  them  out  against 
the  Bulgarians."  It  was  easy  to  see  the  truth  of  his 
words. 

The  rain  had  now  ceased,  the  soldier  who  was  to  act  as  our 


306  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

escort  was  ready,  and,  after  bidding  farewell  to  the  General, 
we  took  the  road  to  Hademkeuy.  The  town  looked  very 
different  now  from  what  it  had  ten  days  before.  All  the 
cholera  patients  had  been  removed  from  the  immediate 
vicinity  to  a  large  camp  of  white  bell  tents  some  two  miles 
away.  The  dreadful  square,  which  I  had  last  seen  covered 
with  victims,  was  now  packed  with  wagons  and  material  of 
war.  Trains  were  daily  bringing  up  food  suppUes  from 
Constantinople,  which  were  stored  in  large  depots  near  the 
station.  The  whole  town  was  surrounded  by  the  camps  of 
the  army,  and  thousands  of  soldiers  were  hurrying  hither  and 
thither,  each  playing  his  small  but  necessary  role  in  this  great 
drama  of  war.  We  rode  through  these  camps  to  the 
railway  station,  and  inquired  where  we  would  find  the 
Minister  of  War.  We  were  told  he  was  living  in  a  special 
train  some  two  kilometres  down  the  line  towards  Chataldja. 
We  rode  there  and  were  molested  by  no  one. 

We  first  came  upon  the  train  assigned  to  the  Mihtary 
Attaches,  who  had  now  returned  to  the  front  from  Con- 
stantinople. I  met  a  Turkish  officer,  Moukbill  Bey,  who 
was  attached  to  them,  and  who  had  formerly  been  Turkish 
Military  Attache  in  Paris.  He  invited  me  inside  his  carriage 
and  explained  some  of  the  details  of  the  fighting  at 
Chataldja.  Before  being  allowed  to  enter,  I  was  sprinkled 
all  over  with  a  variety  of  disinfectants.  In  fact  the  whole 
town  of  Hademkeuy  and  all  the  camps  in  the  neighbour- 
hood sent  up  a  strong  aroma  of  disinfectants,  as  the 
authorities  were  making  desperate  efforts  to  stamp  out  the 
disease.  I  sent  someone  to  Nazim's  train  to  try  to  find 
Major  Vasfi  or  Ismet  Bey,  but  he  returned  with  the  news 
that  neither  could  be  found.  As  it  was  growing  dark 
I  decided  to  ride  back  to  Arnautkeuy.  Bryant  and  I  had 
ridden  some  little  distance  and  were  passing  through  one 
of  the   camps,  when   we   were   completely   surrounded   by 


ORDERED   BACK  807 

soldiers  and  officers,  and  politely  informed  that  a  train  was 
waiting  for  us  in  the  station.  Bryant  asked  them  what  they 
meant,  but   we   could  obtain  no  further  information. 

On  our  arrival  at  the  station  we  were  taken  before  the 
Commandant,  who  informed  us  we  must  leave  immediately 
for  Constantinople.  I  asked  him  at  whose  orders.  He 
replied  :  '*  Nazim  Pasha  has  just  heard  you  are  here,  and  has 
ordered  you  to  be  sent  down  to  Constantinople  on  the  first 
train."  I  pointed  out  to  the  Commandant  that  we  could 
ride  back,  as  we  had  our  horses  and  had  left  all  our 
belongings  at  Arnautkeuy.  But  our  protests  made  no 
difference.  We  were  told  we  must  enter  the  train  and  leave 
at  once.  I  then  asked  what  was  to  become  of  our  horses 
and  the  Commandant  replied  :  "  You  can  leave  them  here." 
But  on  this  point  I  was  adamant.  I  refused  absolutely  to 
leave  my  horses,  unless  I  obtained  a  receipt  in  full,  and  an 
acknowledgment  of  the  exact  sums  I  had  paid  for  them. 
This  the  Commandant  declined  to  give,  and  matters  were  at 
a  deadlock,  when  the  station  master,  an  Austrian,  suggested 
that  he  might  add  an  empty  truck  to  the  train,  in  which  the 
horses  might   travel.     This  was  done. 

Then  they  tried  to  make  us  enter  a  third  class  carriage 
with  a  crowd  of  sick — cholera  patients  (for  all  I  knew) — 
and  wounded.  This  1  absolutely  refused  to  do,  and  said 
that  nothing  would  induce  me  to  enter  the  train,  unless 
they  gave  me  a  first-class,  thoroughly  disinfected  carriage 
to  myself.  This  led  to  a  further  row,  but  in  the  end  I 
gained  my  point,  and  Bryant  and  myself  were  allotted  a 
very  comfortable  compartment.  As  a  final  straw,  the  con- 
ductor of  the  train  came  and  said  we  had  no  tickets,  and 
could  not  travel  without  them.  I  pointed  out  to  him  that 
we  were  being  sent  back  against  our  wishes,  as  the  guests 
of  the  Turkish  Government,  and  therefore  it  was  surely 
their  duty  to  pay  for  us.     But  all  my  arguments  were  in 

x2 


308  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

vain.  The  officials  said  the  company  had  no  connection 
with  the  mihtary  authorities,  and  had  to  collect  all  moneys 
from  civilians  for  itself. 

In  the  end  I  had  to  pay  up,  and  buy  two  first-class  tickets 
and  two  horse  tickets.  It  took  us  nearly  five  hours  to  cover 
the  odd  twenty  miles  between  Hademkeuy  and  Constanti- 
nople. As  we  passed  through  the  country,  which  was  now 
so  familiar  to  us,  I  will  confess  I  was  not  altogether  sorry  I 
had  been  arrested  and  was  seated  in  a  comfortable  train, 
which  every  hour  was  bringing  me  nearer  to  a  comfortable 
hotel,  rather  than  be  riding  in  the  cold,  chased  by  gendarmes, 
and  shot  at  by  sentries. 

Thus  ends  my  last  excursion  to  the  Turkish  lines. 

All  that  now  remains  to  be  told  is  the  signing  of  the 
armistice,  which  has  for  six  weeks  put  an  end  to  the  bloody 
and  disastrous  struggle  with  three  of  the  Alhes,  Bulgaria, 
Servia,  and  Montenegro.  On  Sunday,  November  24th, 
Edib  Bey,  a  Staff  Officer,  was  ordered  to  advance  with  a 
flag  of  truce  and  arrange  for  a  meeting  between  Nazim 
Pasha  and  the  Bulgarian  Commander-in-Chief,  or  with  the 
delegates  appointed  by  him.  Edib  was  led  blindfolded  to 
the  town  of  Chataldja  and  there  saw  the  general  in  com- 
mand, and  a  meeting  was  arranged  for  the  following  day, 
Monday,  November  25th. 

The  Turkish  Headquarters  Staff  forgot  to  inform  all  the 
forts  that  a  Staff  Officer  was  leaving  with  a  flag  of  truce, 
and  when  Edib  was  met  some  way  outside  the  lines  by 
a  Bulgarian  patrol,  the  latter  were  vigorously  shelled 
with  shrapnel,  much  to  their  amazement,  since  they  had 
naturally  imagined  they  would  be  safe  under  the 
white  flag.  The  situation  was  becoming  very  awkward, 
when  the  mistake  was  discovered  and  the  forts  ceased 
fire. 

At  eleven  a.m.,  Nazim  Pasha,  accompanied  by  two  Staff 


THE   NEGOTIATIONS  309 

Officers,  motored  out  as  far  as  a  damaged  bridge  over  the 
river,  where  horses  were  awaiting  him,  and  then  rode  into 
Chataldja,  where  he  was  received  with  full  military  honours. 
The  meeting  between  him  and  General  SavofF  and  the 
Bulgarian  delegates  was  extremely  cordial.  Nothing  was 
said  about  the  war,  and,  after  the  customary  formal  cour- 
tesies, General  Savoff  said  : 

"  Have  you  full  powers  to  negotiate  peace  ? " 

Nazim  Pasha  replied :  "I  am  awaiting  full  instructions 
from  my  Government." 

General  Savoff  then  said  :  "  What  day  will  you  be  ready 
to  hold  the  first  meeting  ? " 

Nazim  Pasha  replied  :  "  On  Wednesday,  Thursday,  Friday, 
or  Saturday  ;  any  day  will  suit  me." 

The  Bulgarians  then  said  they  were  most  anxious  to 
commence  the  negotiations  at  once,  and  Wednesday  was 
finally  agreed  upon. 

The  next  point  was  to  settle  a  suitable  location  for  the 
conference.  General  SavofF  suggested  Silivri,  a  small  town 
on  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  but  Nazim  Pasha  replied  :  "  It  is 
too  far  off,  and  would  be  inconvenient.  I  suggest  that 
Chataldja  would  be  the  most  suitable." 

To  this  the  Bulgarian  delegates  agreed,  and  the  first 
meeting  terminated. 

Between  Hademkeuy  and  Chataldja  the  railway  line  is 
intact,  except  for  some  slight  damage  to  the  bridge  spanning 
the  river.  This  was  repaired  on  Tuesday  by  the  Turkish 
engineers,  so  that  on  Wednesday  morning,  at  eleven  a.m., 
Nazim  Pasha,  accompanied  by  Reshid  Pasha  and  Zia  Pasha, 
Minister  of  the  Erkaf  or  mosque  properties,  and  by  Ebro 
Effendi,  the  lawyer  to  the  Sublime  Porte,  was  able  to  travel 
in  a  saloon  train  to  Chataldja,  where  they  were  joined  by 
General  SavofF,  M.  DanefF,  and  M.  TchaprachikofF,  King 
Ferdinand's  private  secretary.    The  negotiations  subsequently 


310  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

took  place  inside  the  railway-car,  for  probably  the  first  time 
in  history. 

All  the  delegates  were  from  the  first  on  the  best  terms 
with  one  another.  On  Wednesday,  Nazim  Pasha,  as  host, 
offered  the  Bulgarians  tea.  On  Thursday  a  modest  soldier's 
luncheon  of  three  courses  was  ordered  from  Tokatlian's 
restaurant  and  taken  out  to  Chataldja,  and  this  was  followed 
on  Friday  by  a  magnificent  repast  of  more  generous 
proportions. 

The  negotiations  dragged  on  for  nearly  two  weeks  before 
the  armistice  was  finally  signed.  During  the  whole  of  this 
period  Constantinople  remained  in  a  continual  state  of 
unrest,  hopes  and  fears  alternating  every  hour  of  the  day. 
But  at  length,  on  the  evening  of  Wednesday,  December  4th, 
the  elusive  armistice  was  signed  just  at  a  moment  when 
Constantinople  had  begun  to  abandon  all  hopes  of  peace. 
Indeed,  on  December  4th  the  capital  passed  a  very  bad  day, 
owing  to  the  complete  absence  of  any  official  news  either 
confirming  or  denying  the  rumours  of  a  rupture  of  the 
negotiations. 

Up  to  a  very  late  hour  on  that  night  it  was  fully  believed 
in  official  and  diplomatic  circles  that  the  delegates  had  failed 
to  come  to  an  agreement,  and  that  hostilities  would  recom- 
mence the  next  morning.  Those  of  the  correspondents  who 
had  sold  their  horses  and  kit  in  the  anticipation  of  a  peaceful 
issue,  were  in  despair,  and  spent  the  afternoon  obtaining 
options  on  fresh  animals  and  tents. 

Pessimism  reached  its  zenith  after  dinner,  because  we 
had  been  told  that,  if  the  armistice  was  signed  at  all, 
the  hour  would  be  two  o'clock,  in  which  case  the  news 
should  have  been  known  by  five  or  six.  Those  of  us 
who  sat  up  later  than  usual,  hoping  against  hope  for  a 
cessation  of  the  bloodshed  and  a  release  from  our  labours, 
were  rewarded  at  11.30  p.m.  by  the  issue  of  a  semi-official 


WBSW' 


1 

^ 

i 

SUBLIME   INDIFFERENCE  311 

statement  from  the  Ageiice  Ottomane,  that  the  armistice 
had  been  signed  by  Servia,  Bulgaria,  and  Montenegro,  but 
not  by  Greece. 

We  retired  to  rest  with  our  minds  reheved,  but,  on 
awakening  next  morning,  our  hopes  again  sank  to  zero, 
because  none  of  the  early  editions  of  the  papers  were  pre- 
pared to  stake  their  reputations  for  habitual  inaccuracy,  by 
declaring  the  report  issued  on  the  previous  evening  to  be 
true. 

In  the  course  of  a  short  half-hour  four  persons,  who  were 
supposed  to  be  in  the  know,  assured  me  that  no  agreement 
had  been  signed,  and  that  the  negotiations  had  been 
definitely  and  finally  broken  off,  as  the  AUies  refused  to 
sign  without  the  acquiescence  of  the  Greeks.  I  sent 
various  messengers  abroad  to  sound  high  officials  and  to 
visit  the  Sublime  Porte,  which  was  in  its  usual  state  of 
sublime  ignorance  as  to  what  had  occurred,  was  occurring, 
or  would  occur. 

I  then  sent  to  some  of  the  Embassies,  fully  believing 
that  the  dove  of  peace  would  first  visit  those  interested 
arks  with  the  glad  tidings,  but  I  found  all  of  them  hope- 
lessly in  the  dark,  devoid  of  any  official  news,  and  eagerly 
searching  the  rubbish  heap  of  rumours  for  a  scrap  of  fact. 
I  then  went  myself  to  the  War  Office  as  a  last  resource, 
and  saw  the  officer  who  sometimes  distributes  news.  He 
had  just  arrived,  and  when  I  put  the  momentous  question  to 
him,  he  replied : 

"  I  saw  in  the  papers  that  the  armistice  had  been  signed, 
but  I  do  not  know  if  it  is  true,  as  I  have  not  yet  been 
upstairs  to  the  official  bureau  of  information." 

We  then  talked  for  half  an  hour  on  the  sins  of  the  war 
correspondents  and  the  omissions  of  the  officials,  and  agreed 
that  honours  were  about  evenly  divided,  and  that  both  sides 
were  to  blame,  and,  having  arranged  a  modus  vweiidi  for  the 


312         WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

future,  my  friend  went  upstairs  to  seek  the  desired  infor- 
mation. He  returned  in  a  few  minutes  with  a  telegram, 
which  he  said  had  been  sent  by  Nazim  Pasha  on  the  previous 
evening  to  the  acting  Minister  of  War.  He  kindly  trans- 
lated the  contents,  which  were  as  follows  : 

"  Armistice  signed  this  evening  by  Bulgaria,  Servia,  and 
Montenegro,  and  by  our  delegates.  Greece  alone  refused  to 
sign. 

"  The  armistice  will  last  until  the  end  of  the  peace 
negotiations.  Adrianople  and  Scutari  to  remain  as  they  are 
at  present,  but  are  to  receive  one  day's  rations  for  the  soldiers 
and  civil  population  each  day  of  the  armistice. 

"The  line  of  demarcation  between  the  armies  at  Chataldja 
is  to  be  settled  to-day. 

"  State  of  war  with  Greece  to  continue. 

"  Peace  negotiations  to  be  held  at  Chataldja." 

Such  were  the  contents  of  Nazim's  telegram. 

Right  up  to  the  very  end  the  Turks  continued  to  issue 
false  statements.  They  circulated  reports  in  Constantinople, 
which  were  believed  by  the  populace,  that  all  the  beleaguered 
fortresses,  such  as  Adrianople  and  Scutari,  were  to  be 
revictualled  day  by  day  during  the  armistice.  Therefore  it 
came  as  a  great  shock  of  surprise  to  Constantinople  to  learn, 
some  four  weeks  later,  that  Adrianople  was  receiving  no 
supplies  and  might  fall  from  starvation  even  whilst  the 
Conference  was  sitting  in  London. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE   FUTURE   OF   THE   TURKS 

Peace  has  not  yet  been  signed  between  Turkey  and  the 
Balkan  League,  but  even  if  the  war  should  be  continued  in 
the  future,  it  is  certain  that  Turkey  cannot  possibly  regain 
the  immense  stretch  of  territory  she  has  lost.  The  question 
of  the  future  possession  of  Adrianople  still  blocks  the  way  to 
a  peaceful  issue  of  the  negotiations.  Up  to  the  present,  the 
Turks  still  refuse  to  cede  the  fortress  to  Bulgaria,  and  Reshid 
Pasha,  the  chief  of  the  Delegates,  has  made  the  remarkable 
declaration  that  even  the  fall  of  the  fortress  through  starva- 
tion or  other  causes  will  make  no  difference  in  the  attitude 
of  the  Turks,  who  will  demand  the  restoration  of  it  from 
the  hands  of  the  Great  Powers. 

Of  course  this  is  mere  word  play,  and,  once  Adrianople  has 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Alhes,  Turkey  need  look  for  no 
aid  from  Europe  to  restore  it  to  her  possession  once  again. 
Therefore  the  position  is  this.  Either  Turkey  must  yield 
Adrianople  by  treaty ;  or  else  she  must  be  prepared  to  see  it 
captured.  If  the  war  is  renewed,  it  is  obvious  Adrianople 
must  eventually  succumb.  It  cannot  hold  out  indefinitely, 
and  already  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  the  civil  popula- 
tion are  suffering  terribly  from  want  of  food,  and  from  lack 
of  fuel  with  which  to  keep  themselves  warm.  To  pass  a 
winter  in  the  Balkans  without  a  fire  is  an  experience  which 

313 


314  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

few  would  care  to  undergo.  Why  then  do  the  Turks  refuse 
to  accept  the  inevitable  and  to  surrender  the  fortress,  in 
which  case  the  garrison  would  doubtless  be  allowed  to  march 
out  with  all  the  honours  of  war,  whereas  if  the  fortress  is 
forced  to  surrender,  or  is  taken  by  assault,  they  will  naturally 
become  prisoners  ? 

The  only  logical  view  to  take  of  their  stubborn  refusal 
to  accept  the  inevitable  seems  to  be  that  a  lingering  hope 
survives  in  the  minds  of  the  military  leaders,  that  the  army, 
which  has  now  been  concentrating  at  Chataldja  for  nearly 
three  months,  may  yet  be  able  to  bring  about  the 
rehef  of  the  beleaguered  garrison.  But,  if  the  Turks 
really  believed  in  the  possibility  of  such  a  move,  they 
would  surely  have  broken  off  the  negotiations  long 
ago,  and  have  marched  against  the  Bulgarian  covering 
army,  because  every  day  they  delay  helps  to  deplete  the 
food  supplies  of  the  garrison,  and  to  render  the  chances  of 
success  still  more  remote. 

In  reality  nothing  short  of  a  miracle  can  enable  Adrianople 
to  be  relieved  by  the  army  under  Nazim  Pasha.  I  do  not 
know  what  the  actual  strength  of  that  army  is  at  the  present 
time,  but,  with  the  reinforcements  which  have  reached  it 
from  Asia,  it  cannot  be  far  short  of  two  hundred  thousand 
men,  and  it  may  greatly  exceed  this  number.  On  paper 
it  forms  a  formidable  host,  which  should  be  able  to  render 
a  very  good  account  of  itself  if  properly  led  and  handled. 
Without  a  doubt  it  is  a  very  formidable  army,  but  only 
so  long  as  it  remains  behind  the  famous  lines.  There  it  is 
placed  in  an  extremely  strong  position,  and  by  this  time 
the  troops  must  be  entrenched  up  to  their  necks,  and  would 
fight,  if  attacked,  under  conditions  in  which  the  Turks  have 
almost  invariably  given  a  very  good  account  of  themselves. 
So  long  as  they  remain  at  Chataldja,  they  have  very  little 
to  fear  from  the  superiority  of  the  Bulgarian  artillery  fire, 


THE   STRATEGICAL  POSITION  315 

which,  after  their  experiences  at  Kirk  Kihsse  and  Lule 
Burgas,  they  dread  more  than  any  other  arm. 

Personally,  I  am  of  opinion  that  as  long  as  they  remain 
entrenched  at  Chataldja,  they  have  absolutely  nothing  to 
fear  from  the  Bulgarians,  and  I  do  not  believe  the  latter 
would  dare  take  the  offensive  against  the  Turks,  as  not  only 
would  every  advantage  rest  with  the  defence,  but  the  attack- 
ing army  would  also  be  inferior  in  numbers,  although 
superior  in  artillery. 

The  superiority  in  numbers,  which  the  Turks  enjoy  in 
front  of  Chataldja,  will  only  last  just  so  long  as  Adrianople 
holds  out.  According  to  the  statements  attributed  to  the 
Bulgarian  generals,  the  latter  have  one  hundred  thousand  men 
in  front  of  the  lines,  consisting  of  the  Second  Army,  which 
fought  at  Lule  Burgas,  while  the  First  Army,  of  equal 
strength,  is  in  front  of  Adrianople.  In  addition  they  have 
some  thirty  thousand  young  soldiers  in  reserve,  and  they 
can  also  call  for  aid  from  the  Servians,  as  the  latter  have 
little  on  their  hands.  The  Bulgarians  also  claim  to  have 
raised  some  twenty  thousand  men  from  Macedonia,  but 
these  cannot  be  very  efficient.  Thus,  shortly  after  the  fall 
of  Adrianople,  when  the  prisoners  have  been  disposed  of, 
the  Bulgarians  will  have  a  field  army  at  their  disposal  more 
than  two  hundred  thousand  strong  of  seasoned  veterans, 
well  trained,  well  organised,  and  well  led. 

Is  there  anything  in  Turkish  military  history  in  the  past, 
or  are  there  any  data  to  be  drawn  from  the  present  war,  to 
lead  us  to  believe  the  Turks  are  capable  of  meeting  such  an 
army  in  the  field  ?  Miracles  of  organisation  cannot  be 
w^orked  in  a  few  months,  although  large  numbers  of  men 
may  be  concentrated  at  a  given  spot.  Without  organisation 
and  skilful  handling,  the  confusion  only  becomes  the  worse 
with  every  increase  in  numbers.  But  then,  it  may  be  asked, 
if  the   Turks  are   superior  probably  by  one  half,  or  even 


316  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

double,  the  strength  of  the  Bulgarian  army  actually  in  front 
of  Chataldja,  why  should  they  not  march  out  and  defeat 
that  army  before  the  First  Army  besieging  Adrianople  can 
come  to  its  assistance  ? 

Doubtless  on  paper  such  a  scheme  might  seem  feasible,  but 
if  put  into  practice  it  would  be  almost  certain  to  fail.  If  the 
Turks  take  the  offensive,  all  the  advantages  which  they  now 
hold  are  at  once  transferred  to  the  Bulgarians,  who,  in  turn, 
will  find  themselves  entrenched  in  hill  ground  offering  every 
advantage  to  the  defence,  especially  to  an  army  which  is 
vastly  superior  in  artillery.  Both  armies,  if  they  endeavour 
to  take  the  offensive,  have  the  same  difficulties  to  overcome, 
and  both  have  the  same  advantages,  if  they  remain  on  the 
defensive.  They  are  facing  one  another  in  a  narrow 
peninsula,  very  mountainous,  which  offers  no  room  for  the 
deployment  of  a  large  army  in  attack.  Both  would  have  to 
advance  over  a  narrow  front,  which  renders  it  impossible  for 
a  general  to  bring  anything  like  an  army  of  one  hundred 
thousand  men  into  action  at  the  same  time.  Thus,  any 
superiority  in  numbers  which  the  Turks  may  possess  would 
be  entirely  neutralised,  because  they  would  have  to  advance 
up  a  narrow  funnel,  so  to  speak,  only  to  meet  their  enemy 
entrenched  and  waiting  for  them  at  the  other  end. 

The  Bulgarians  very  quickly  found,  during  their  abortive 
attempt  on  the  lines  on  November  17th  and  18th,  how 
impossible  it  was  to  find  suitable  artillery  positions,  from 
which  to  support  the  attacks  of  their  infantry,  imd  it  was 
doubtless  this  which  caused  their  sudden  abandonment  of 
the  attack.  If  the  Turks  take  the  offensive,  they  will  find 
exactly  the  same  difficulties,  and  will  be  overwhelmed  by 
artillery  fire. 

Hitherto  I  have  only  spoken  of  the  difficulties  which  the 
country  presents  for  the  manceuvring  of  large  armies.  But 
if  the  Turks  were  even  successful  and  forced  the  Second 


LACK   OF   TRANSPORT  817 

Army  to  retire  nearer  Adrianople,  they  would  be  no  nearer 
the  achievement  of  their  objective,  namely,  the  relief  of 
Adrianople.  In  the  first  place,  they  must  leave  a  very  large 
force  to  hold  the  hnes  in  case  of  a  disaster  such  as  Lule 
Burgas,  which  would  cause  the  Field  Army  to  retire 
precipitously.  This  would,  of  course,  lessen  the  numbers 
which  Nazim  could  take  with  him  on  an  offensive  movement 
towards  the  north.  But,  in  reality,  leaving  a  large  garrison  at 
Chataldja  is  somewhat  beside  the  point,  because  it  would  be 
utterly  impossible  for  any  general  to  feed  his  whole  army  if 
he  took  all  his  men  with  him,  and  I  do  not  believe  he  could 
possibly  feed  an  army  of  even  fifty  thousand  men  at  any 
distance  from  his  base.  The  Turks  could  not  feed  the  army 
of  Thrace  under  Abdullah  Pasha,  or  even  keep  it  supplied 
with  ammunition,  when  they  were  in  control  of  the  line  of 
the  railway,  and  when  the  season  was  far  more  favourable  for 
the  passage  of  wheeled  transport,  than  it  is  now.  But,  if  they 
decide  to  advance,  they  will  no  longer  have  the  railway  at 
their  disposal,  because  the  Bulgarians  are  certain  to  destroy 
it  if  the  latter  see  any  chance  of  suffering  a  reverse  and  being 
forced  to  retire.  Therefore,  it  is  obvious  that  for  some 
weeks,  even  months,  the  Commander-in-Chief  would  have 
to  rely  on  wheeled  transport,  with  which  to  keep  his  army 
supplied.  But,  as  1  have  already  pointed  out  many  times  in 
this  book,  roads  in  Thrace  are  almost  non-existent.  In  the 
summer  they  are  mere  tracks  covered  with  ruts,  which  are 
turned  into  pools  of  mud  and  slime  after  any  rain ;  but  in 
winter,  when  they  are  covered  with  snow  and  frozen  up, 
with  the  inequalities  and  holes  partly  hidden,  they  are 
infinitely  more  dangerous  and  difficult. 

The  Turks  have  no  mule  carts,  and  all  their  supplies  and 
ammunition  would  have  to  be  drawn  in  bullock-wagons. 
Now  the  pace  of  bullock  transport  under  summer  conditions 
is  only,  in  favourable  circumstances,  one   and  a  half  miles 


318  WITH    THE   TURKS    IN   THRACE 

per  hour,  and  in  winter  it  would  be  even  less  than  this.  In 
the  summer  the  bullocks  were  able  to  obtain  sustenance, 
and  this  also  applies  to  the  horses  of  the  cavalry  and 
artillery,  from  the  rich  pastures  of  the  grass  lands  of  Thrace, 
and,  therefore,  the  problem  of  feeding  them  presented  but 
few  difficulties.  But  in  the  winter,  with  the  country  frozen 
up  or  covered  with  snow,  food  will  have  to  be  carried,  not 
only  for  the  army,  but  for  the  immense  pack  of  bullocks 
and  horses,  and  this  alone,  apart  from  every  other  consider- 
ation, will  prove  an  impossible  task. 

Apart  from  the  difficulties  of  transport  and  supply,  all 
the  old  strategical  and  tactical  faults  will  at  once  reappear, 
if  the  army  leaves  the  friendly  shelter  of  the  lines.  It 
is  quite  impossible,  if  we  are  to  draw  a  precedent  from 
any  other  army,  for  Nazim  to  have  created  a  thoroughly 
efficient  General  Staff  capable  of  handling  one  hundred 
thousand  men  in  the  field,  since  the  battle  of  I^ule  Burgas. 
A  trained  Staff  can  only  be  created  after  years  of  patient 
work,  and  it  can  only  learn  to  handle  an  army  after  repeated 
practice  under  peace  conditions.  But  it  is  fully  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Turkish  character,  as  revealed  by  their  actions 
in  the  present  war,  for  them  to  believe  that,  because  they 
are  able  to  control  the  army  scattered  along  the  lines  of 
Chataldja,  they  would  be  able  to  handle  it  with  equal 
efficiency  in  the  field. 

At  Chataldja  the  various  positions  are  now  connected 
up  by  telephone ;  the  troops  never  shift  their  stations, 
and  all  the  subordinate  commanders  are  within  touch  of 
the  Commander-in-Chief.  But,  once  the  army  leaves  the 
lines,  there  will  be  no  field  telegraph  or  field  telephone, 
the  Commanders  of  the  various  Army  Corps  will  be  out 
of  touch  with  Headquarters,  except  by  the  obsolete  system 
of  orderUes  and  A.D.C.'s  bearing  written  despatches,  and 
we  shall  see  once  again  the  spectacle  of  three  or  four  Army 


THE   QUESTION   OF   ADRIANOPLE       319 

Corps  manoeuvring  as  independent  units  without  order  or 
cohesion.  When  Abdullah's  army  was  advancing  towards 
the  line,  Adrianople-Kirk  Kilisse,  the  troops  could  find 
some  supplies,  and  the  animals  forage,  from  the  villages 
which  are  freely  scattered  over  its  fertile  plains,  but  now 
even  this  advantage  will  be  gone,  for  the  country  is  deserted 
and  has  been  swept  absolutely  bare  by  the  tide  of  war 
and  the  retreat  of  one  army  and  the  advance  of  another. 

1  think  I  have  said  enough  to  show  how  impossible  it  is 
for  the  Turks  to  relieve  Adrianople  and  how  that  fortress  is 
inevitably  doomed. 

Why,  then,  in  the  circumstances,  does  the  Turkish 
Government  refuse  to  surrender  Adrianople  ?  Is  the  cause 
sentiment,  or  simply  the  intense  stupidity  which  refuses  to 
acknowledge  the  facts  of  the  situation  ?  I  do  not  think 
sentiment  accounts  for  much  amongst  the  Turks  in  this  age, 
and  I  know  there  are  a  great  many  Turks  who,  even  before 
I  left  Constantinople,  realised  that  Adrianople  was  lost  to 
them  for  ever.  The  Turkish  Government  is  holding  out, 
because  they  stand  in  wholesome  dread  of  the  army  at 
Chataldja.  Soldiers  do  not  think  like  statesmen.  The 
ignorant  private  cannot  look  far  enough  ahead  to  grasp  the 
fact  that  his  country  may  lose  more  in  the  end  by  refusing 
to  give  up  a  beleaguered  fortress.  Probably  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  the  Turkish  Army,  which  is  now  occupying  the  lines, 
have  never  fired  a  shot  during  the  war.  They  do  not  know 
what  defeat  and  starvation  mean,  and,  with  a  pride  natural 
in  any  army,  they  do  not  relish  the  idea  of  returning  to  their 
homes  to  announce  that  all  the  European  provinces  of 
the  Empire  have  been  lost  to  the  faith,  and  then  to  have  to 
admit  that  they  themselves  never  fired  a  shot. 

The  private  soldier,  and  even  many  of  the  officers  in 
subordinate  positions,  cannot  see  things  in  the  same  light  as 
the   Commander-in-Chief.     So   long  as   they   are   fed   and 


320  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

clothed,  and  have  a  rifle  and  ammunition,  they  do  not  under- 
stand why  they  are  not  led  against  the  enemy.  They  do 
not  realise  the  difficulties  of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  who 
must  keep  each  one  of  them  supplied  with  food,  clothing, 
and  ammunition.  Thus  all  the  arguments  which  appeal  so 
strongly  to  the  commander  of  an  army,  and  to  the  Govern- 
ment which  he  serves,  are  entirely  lost  on  the  rank  and  file. 
Therefore  the  Turkish  Government  is  faced  with  a  problem 
which  must  command  the  sympathy  of  every  impartial  critic. 
How  can  they  surrender  Adrianople  and  at  the  same  time 
keep  the  army  quiet  ?  The  Turkish  Army  is  within  only 
fifteen  miles  of  the  capital.  When  it  is  demobilised,  every 
man  must  be  sent  to  his  home  from  Stamboul,  and,  if  the 
army  feels  that  the  honour  of  the  country  has  been  sacrificed, 
it  is  just  as  hkely  as  not  to  revenge  itself  on  the  Govern- 
ment, to  cause  a  fresh  revolution,  and  to  run  amuck  in  the 
streets  of  Constantinople.  The  only  solution,  so  far  as  the 
Turkish  Government  is  concerned,  would  seem  to  be  for 
Adrianople  to  fall  from  starvation,  and  for  the  Government 
to  say  to  the  army,  "  This  is  not  our  act,  but  the  will  of 
Allah." 

Although  Turkey  has  lost  all  her  European  possessions, 
and  has  suffered  even  more  in  loss  of  prestige  in  the  present 
war,  there  are  a  good  many  of  the  more  far-seeing  Turks 
who  are  inclined  to  look  upon  the  loss  of  territory  as  a 
blessing  in  disguise.  From  the  military  and  strategical 
standpoint  she  has  surely  gained  in  strength.  No  patriotic 
man  hkes  to  see  whole  provinces,  which  were  conquered  by 
his  ancestors  and  governed  by  their  successors  for  six 
centuries,  suddenly  lopped  off,  more  especially  when  the 
unpleasant  surgical  operation  is  performed  by  races  his 
country  has  formerly  ruled.  But,  now  that  the  first 
bitterness  of  defeat  has  worn  off,  the  more  far-seeing  Turks 
are  seriously  asking  themselves,  "  What  have  we  lost  and 


MACEDONIA  321 

what  have  we  gained  ? "  "  After  all,"  they  say,  "  we  never 
looked  upon  European  Turkey  as  forming  part  of  sacred 
territories  of  Islam ;  we  have  always  regarded  them  as 
captured  provinces,  in  which  the  Christian  populations  have 
outnumbered  the  Moslem,  and  in  consequence  we  have 
always  governed  them  as  such.  They  were  captured  for  the 
faith  by  the  warriors  of  Othman  six  hundred  years  ago,  and 
now  Allah  wills  that  they  shall  pass  once  again  into  the 
hands  of  the  infidel.  Well,  so  be  it;  it  is  fate,  and  no 
action  of  ours   can   alter   the   inexorable   decrees   of  fate." 

Thus,  when  the  war  is  brought  to  a  conclusion,  there  will 
be  none  of  that  lasting  rancour  in  the  minds  of  the  Turks, 
such  as  the  French  feel  against  the  Germans  for  the  loss  of 
Alsace  and  Lorraine,  and  none  of  that  unchanging  deter- 
mination to  regain  that  which  has  been  lost. 

From  the  economic  standpoint  Turkey  is  well  rid  of  the 
care  of  Macedonia.  A  precarious  revenue  of  some  five 
millions  is  drawn  or  forced  from  the  unfortunate  Christian 
population,  but  the  country  takes  seven  millions  to  ad- 
minister, and  the  odd  two  millions  have  to  be  provided  out  of 
the  already  sorely-pressed  Exchequer.  In  fact,  Turkey  has 
never  gained  either  in  wealth  or  in  strength  from  ruling  over 
Macedonia,  Albania,  and  Thrace. 

Now  let  us  examine  for  a  moment  the  strategical  situation 
in  which  she  is  left,  if  the  Allies'  terms  of  peace  are  even- 
tually accepted  or  forced  upon  her.  Turkey  has  drawn  no 
recruits  for  her  army  in  the  past  either  from  Macedonia 
or  Albania,  and  extremely  few  from  the  Mahommedan 
population  of  Thrace.  Therefore,  as  almost  all  Thrace  is 
to  be  left  in  her  possession,  her  army  will  lose  no  valuable 
recruiting  ground  which  wiU  seriously  deplete  its  numbers. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Turks  have  always  been  obliged  to 
maintain  large  armies  in  Macedonia  and  in  Albania  to  put 
down  periodical  insurrections,  and  to  preserve  peace  amongst 

Y 


322  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

the  various  nationalities  and  religions  which  make  up  that 
unhappy  land. 

Having  to  keep  a  great  part  of  its  forces  always  ready  for 
war  and  dispersed  throughout  Macedonia  and  Albania,  has 
ever  been  a  source  of  weakness  to  the  Empire.  It  has 
also  been  a  great  drain  on  its  resources,  and  was  largely 
responsible  for  the  disasters  of  the  present  war.  In  future 
the  whole  of  the  army,  which  the  Turks  have  been  obliged  to 
keep  in  Europe,  will  be  available  for  the  defence  of  Con- 
stantinople and  Gallipoli,  or  else  it  can  be  employed  in  the 
Caucasus,  the  Armenian  frontier,  and  in  the  Yemen.  It  wiU, 
in  fact,  be  available  for  the  services  of  the  Empire  proper, 
and  will  not  be  frittered  away  in  Europe  in  useless  attempts 
to  quell  insurrections  among  the  bands  in  Albania  and 
Macedonia. 

One  of  the  reasons  which  the  Turks  give  for  refusing  to 
surrender  Adrianople,  is  that  it  will  leave  them  no  frontier 
for  the  defence  of  Constantinople,  and  will  also  expose  the 
province  of  Thrace  to  continual  invasion.  This  plea  will 
not  bear  examination.  Adrianople  is  not  the  line  of  defence 
for  Constantinople.  If  the  Turks  remained  in  possession 
of  it,  it  could  always  be  turned,  isolated,  and  besieged  exactly 
as  has  been  its  fate  in  the  war.  It  would  be  a  constant 
source  of  weakness  to  the  Turks,  because  it  would  encourage 
them  to  keep  a  large  army  in  Thrace,  so  as  to  go  to  the 
assistance  of  the  fortress  in  case  of  need,  and  they  would 
have  to  fight  for  the  defence  of  Constantinople  in  a  false 
position. 

There  is  only  one  true  line  of  defence  for  the  capital, 
and  that  is  the  lines  of  Chataldja.  That  position,  if 
permanent  works  were  erected  on  it,  could  be  rendered 
absolutely  impregnable,  and  it  could  not  be  forced,  assisted 
as  the  army  would  always  be  by  the  fleet,  except  by  the 
slow  process  of  a  regular  siege. 


THE   FUTURE   OF   CONSTANTINOPLE     323 

The  Turks  have  left  to  them  the  one  natural  position 
essential  to  their  remaining  on  the  European  shore  of  the 
Bosphorus,  and  it  is  their  own  fault  if  they  do  not  insure 
the  safety  of  the  capital  for  all  time  by  rendering  that 
position  impregnable.  They  will  have  left  to  them  Thrace, 
up  to  the  line  of  the  Maritza,  but  excluding  Adrianople. 
They  can  train  their  army  there,  if  they  wish  to,  and 
they  can  keep  garrisons  at  important  towns,  but,  if  they  are 
called  upon  to  fight  again,  their  only  sound  strategical  plan 
is  to  retire  at  once  behind  the  lines  and  there  to  await  the 
onslaught  of  their  foe,  whoever  he  or  they  may  be. 

The  question  of  the  future  possession  of  Constantinople 
has  frequently  brought  the  Great  Powers  to  the  verge  of 
war.  If  the  Turks  accept  the  inevitable  and  are  content  to 
regard  the  lines  of  Chataldja  as  their  strategic  frontier,  then 
that  question  should  never  arise  again.  They  should  be  able 
to  hold  Constantinople  for  all  time,  and  it  would  tax  the 
strength  of  the  greatest  of  the  military  Powers  to  force  a 
passage  through  that  almost  impregnable  position.  Thus, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  peace  of  Europe,  the  war  has 
been  a  blessing  in  disguise. 

It  is  too  early  to  place  on  record  all  the  lessons  to  be 
learned  from  the  Balkan  war.  We  must  await  fuller 
information  from  the  victors,  and  from  the  defeated  Turks, 
before  we  venture  on  a  scientific  analysis  of  the  strategy  of 
the  two  armies.  But  the  war  has  proved,  what  has  been 
proved  so  often  in  the  past,  namely,  the  strength  of  nations 
organised  for  the  attainment  of  a  definite  ideal. 

For  a  century  the  Turks  have  blundered  on,  utterly 
unprepared  for  war,  trusting  to  the  dissensions  of  the 
Powers  and  to  Allah  to  save  them  from  the  danger  that  was 
to  come.  When  the  "  little  Balkan  States  "  had  struck  their 
first  blow,  and  only  then,  did  Islam  awake  from  her 
perennial  slumber  and  prepare  for  war.     At  the  eleventh 

y2 


324  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

hour  the  Ottoman  Government,  unable  to  concentrate  its 
regular  army  in  time  to  meet  the  attack  of  the  invaders, 
seized  hold  of  all  the  old  Redifs  upon  which  it  could  lay 
hands,  formed  these  harmless,  untrained,  peace-loving 
peasants  into  extemporary^  regiments  without  a  proper  quota 
of  officers,  or  any  previous  organisation  and  training ; 
improvised  these  mob  regiments  into  brigades,  out  of  which 
the  Headquarters  Staff,  with  its  peculiar  faculty  for  self- 
deception,  formed  phantom  divisions  and  army  corps. 

Although  fully  aware  that  no  effective  stand  could  be 
made  north  of  Chataldja,  the  Government  dispatched  the 
whole  of  this  unwilling  band  of  martyrs  to  do  battle  around 
Lule  Burgas,  merely  because  they  wished  to  make  a  show 
of  resistance  near  the  frontier.  They  did  not  hesitate  to 
sacrifice  the  lives  of  some  eighty  thousand  soldiers,  in  order 
to  postpone  for  a  few  weeks  the  inevitable  disclosure  of  their 
unpreparedness  for  war.  They  rested  secure  in  the  delusion 
of  numerical  superiority.  Was  it  not  preposterous  that 
puny  Bulgaria  and  Servia,  with  their  total  population  of 
some  seven  million  souls,  should  dare  to  attack  the  great 
Turkish  Empire,  with  its  vast  resources  and  its  population  of 
twenty-five  millions  ?  But  the  Turks  had  yet  to  learn  that 
numbers  are  of  no  avail  against  organisation.  The  Turkish 
army  was  not  even  concentrated  when  the  battle  of  Lule 
Burgas  was  fought.  Napoleon's  maxim  that  an  army  must 
be  concentrated  before  battle  was  forgotten.  Having  no 
supplies,  or  not  having  troubled  to  bring  up  supplies,  they 
sent  forth  their  army  v^dthout  bread  to  fight  in  a  wilderness. 
Three  weeks  after  the  initial  disaster  of  Lule  Burgas  the 
regular  army  appeared,  strongly  entrenched  behind  the  lines 
of  Chataldja,  but  it  was  too  late,  for  by  then  their  European 
possessions  had  been  lost. 

The  telegraph,  the  railway,  and  the  aeroplane  have  made 
of  war  an  affair  of  days,  where   it    used  to    be  an   affair 


THE   LESSON   OF   THE   WAR  325 

of  months.  Armies  can  be  concentrated  with  a  speed 
undreamed  of  in  bygone  days.  A  decisive  blow  can  be 
struck  with  almost  lightning  rapidity,  and  the  fate  of  a 
nation  decided  in  a  few  days.  Nowadays  a  war  is  won  in 
times  of  peace,  and  the  army  that  is  best  organised  at  the 
moment  of  the  declaration  of  hostilities,  and  that  can  be 
concentrated  with  the  greatest  rapidity,  must  be  victorious. 
The  war  between  Turkey  and  the  Balkan  Coalition  began 
on  October  16th.  On  the  evening  of  October  31st  the 
Turkish  Army  was  routed  and  the  fugitives  were  flying, 
without  a  semblance  of  order,  back  to  Constantinople.  In 
a  campaign  of  two  weeks  the  conquests  of  six  centuries 
were  lost.     Comment  would  be  superfluous. 

The  days  when  recruits  could  be  trained  in  the  course 
of  a  laborious  and  prolonged  march  toward  the  scene  of 
hostilities  have  gone  for  ever.  Yet  we  in  England  are  told 
with  all  seriousness  that  our  Territorial  Forces  can  be  trained 
after  the  outbreak  of  war,  on  the  hypothesis  that  six  months 
must  elapse  before  they  could  reasonably  be  called  upon 
to  fight,  and  that  in  the  meantime  our  striking  force  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  regulars  would  amply  suffice 
for  our  immediate  defence.  The  striking  force  of  the 
victorious  Bulgarians  at  the  battles  of  Kirk  Kilisse  and  Lule 
Burgas  amounted  to  between  one  hundred  and  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  men.  They  admit  that,  in  the  first  three 
weeks  of  the  war,  there  was  a  wastage  from  that  army  of 
some  fifty  thousand  men  from  casualties  on  the  battlefield 
or  from  disease.  What  would  have  been  the  ultimate  fate 
of  that  army  if  Bulgaria,  with  her  scanty  population  of 
four  millions,  had  not,  as  the  fruit  of  twenty  years  of 
patriotic  endeavour,  had  at  least  another  one  hundred  thou- 
sand trained  men  to  take  their  place  ? 

Nations,  like  individuals,  have  their  obligations,  and  the 
Turks,  having  proved   wanting,  must  now  pay    the  just 


326  WITH   THE   TURKS   IN   THRACE 

penalty  of  their  incapacity.  In  the  course  of  the  five 
centuries  which  they  have  spent  in  Europe,  they  have 
proved  that  they  are  incapable  of  governing  their  conquests. 
They  have  not  attempted  to  initiate  a  sound  economic 
system  ;  they  have  not  given  their  subjects  the  first  postulate 
of  progress,  justice  or  education  ;  they  have  built  no  roads, 
neither  have  they  cultivated  the  land.  Thrace,  which  might 
have  been  the  granary  of  the  empire,  they  have  left  a 
barren  wilderness. 

Nor  is  there  any  sentimental  reason  why  the  Turks  should 
be  left  in  possession  of  their  European  conquests,  for,  since 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  practically  the  whole  of  the  Otto- 
man population  has  migrated  to  Asia  Minor,  without  the 
desire  or  the  means  to  return. 

The  future  of  the  Turk  lies  in  Asia.  Let  him  return  to 
the  land  of  his  fathers  and  develop  those  matchless  resources 
which  constant  wars  and  preoccupations  in  Europe  have 
caused  him  to  neglect.  I^et  him  subdue  the  Arabs  of  the 
Yemen  and  the  wild  hillmen  of  the  Caucasus,  and  so  con- 
solidate his  Empire  that  a  new  Turkey  may  arise  which  will 
command  the  respect  of  European  civilisation,  and  give  to 
those  Anatohan  peasants,  decimated  by  the  successive  wars 
of  the  last  century,  some  measure  of  that  peace  and  security 
which  is  vital  to  their  survival  as  a  race. 


INDEX 


r 


INDEX 


Abdul  Aziz,  37,  38 

Abdul  Hamid,  6,  22,  38,  40-46,  48,  134, 
221,  280,  304-5 

Abdullah  Pasha,  his  command,  50,  72, 
74,  79,  88,  270 ;  before  Lule  Burgas, 
92,  93;  and  Mr.  Ashmead-Bartlett, 
130-35,  158,  190,  195-96,  295;  at 
Sakiskeuy,  147-51  ;  second  day  at 
Lule  Burgas,  152-70;  difficulties  of 
his  position,  160-66,  317,  319  ;  and 
the  Correspondents,  168-70 ;  the 
retreat,  172,  246 

Abouk  Pasha,  82,  91,  144,  145,  147,  270 

Adrianople,  Russian  occupation,  1828, 
34 ;  army  manoeuvres,  1910,  50 
garrison,  79-80,  82,  88;  occupation 
95,  232,  289;  revictualling,  312 
impossibility  of  relieving,  313-19 
reason  of  Turkey's  holding,  319-20, 
322 

Adrianople  Gate,  111,  227 

Adrianople— Kirk-Kilisse  lines,  78,  79, 
87,  88,  90,  142,  319 

Ahmed  Bey,  village  of,  172 

Ahmed  Pass,  270 

Albania,  Northern,  ceded  to  Monte- 
negro, 39 

Albanians,  the,  rebellions,  31-32,  207, 
321-22;  and  Abdul  Hamid,  42; 
massacres  in  Macedonia,  44-45  ;  and 
the  Young  Turk  policy,  47-48  ; 
allegiance  of,  85 

Aleppo,  19 

\lexandria,  blockade  1839,  35 

411an,  Mr.  Ostler,  60,  102 

Alsace-Lorraine,  321 

Anatolia,  recruiting  from,  10,  15,  16, 
19,  30-32,  45,  49,  180,  248. 

Arabs,  the,  types,  40  ;  and  the  Young 
Turk  policy,  47-48  ;  rebellion  of  the 
Yemen,  30-32,  207 

Armenia,  massacres  in,  42 


Armstice,  the,  308-12 

Arnautkeuy,  village  of,  280-82,  296, 
300-307 

Ashmead-Bartlett,  Mr.  Seabury,  with 
the  Correspondents,  3,  63-64,  65, 
85-86,  105-7,  137  ;  at  Sakiskeuy, 
167-70, 196  ;  at  Chorlou,  177, 182, 185  ; 
return  from  the  front  to  Constan- 
tinople, 201-3  ;  story  of  the  retreat 
from  Chorlou,  203-28 ;  leaves  for 
Chataldja,  242;  and  Major  Vasfi, 
243 ;  at  Cherkeskeuy,  246 ;  second 
departure  for  the  front,  252-54 ; 
ordered  to  return  to  Constantinople, 
264,  279  ;  at  Buyuk  Chekmedche, 
275  ;  at  Arnautkeuy,  277,  281,  296 ; 
return  to  England,  296. 

Asia  Minor,  Turkish  migration  to,  39, 
188-89,  250-51,  326 

Asperm-Essling,  6 

Austria,  Turkish  district,  14-15,  26 ; 
note  to  the  Balkans,  23,  26 

Austrian-Lloyd  boat,  the,  191,  193-95, 
198 

Aya  Yorgi.     See  St.  George,  village  of 

Aziz,  Colonel,  6 

Aziz,  Prince,  84 

Baba  Eski,  retreat  on,  85,  90,  91 
Balkan  League  significance,  8,  22,  49  ; 
Austrian  and  Russian  notes  presented, 
23,  26  ;  reply  to  the  Powers,  28 
Baring,  Mr.  Maurice,  68 
Bashi-Bazouks,  atrocities  by,  44,  45 
Belgrade,  Forest  of,  268,  270,  280 
Bennet,  M.,  charges  against  Correspond- 
ents, 186 
Berlin,  Congress  of,  1878,  39 
Berlin,  Treaty  of,  fulfilment  of  Art.  23 
demanded,    23,    27-28;    Bulgarians' 
position,  39-40 
Bernhardi,  General  von,  80,  82 


330 


INDEX 


Bethlehem,  208 

Bismarck,  remark  of  quoted,  38 

Black  Sea,  199,  268 

Bogados,  village  of,  116 

Bosnia,  part  ceded  to  Servia,  39 

Breves,  Savary  de,  30 

Bristol  Hotel,  Vienna,  6 

British  Embassy,  Constantinople,  70 

British  Red  Cross  Society,  251,  281 

Brusa  in  A.sia-Minor,  243 

Bryant,  despatch  carrier,  111,  201, 
203-4,  206,  212,  252,  254,  257,  264, 
266,  266,  267,  273-74,  279,  281,  282, 
292-96,  303-4,  306-8 

Buj-Chekmedche,  114 

Bulgaria  and  the  Powers,  8  ;  demobilisa- 
tion demanded,  13  ;  war  declared  on, 
declared  by  Turkey,  17  Oct.,  28; 
autonomy  established,  38-40  ;  Bul- 
garians in  Macedonia,  45-46  ;  Turkish 
plan  of  campaign  against,  78-80,  87  ; 
armistice  signed,  311-12 

Bulgarian  Army  in  Thrace,  the  fight  south 
of  Adrianople,  80 ;  strength,  82-83, 
315,  325 ;  capture  of  Kirk  Kilisse,  97  ; 
the  attack  on  the  town  of  Lule  Burgas, 
142-44,  145  ;  plan  of  campaign,  144, 
165  ;  villages  fired  by,  147-48  ;  brav- 
ery of,  Turkish  admiration,  151  ;  the 
second  day  at  Lule  Burgas,  152-70  ; 
195-96  ;  need  of  cavalry,  177-78  ;  218  ; 
the  artillery,  180-81  ;  slow  advance 
after  Lule  Burgas,  225-26,  229-32  ; 
capture  of  Rodosto,  234-41 ;  attack  on 
the  Chataldja  lines,  263-91 

Bunar  Hissar,  village  of,  91,  144 

Buyuk  Chekmedche,  village  of,  264,  268, 
270,  271 ;  correspondents  ordered 
back  to,  273 ,274,  278  ;  pickets  at,  293  ; 
lake  of,  267,  268,  271 

Cadres,  the,  strength,  80 

Carol,  Hotel,  Constanza,  199 

Catholics  in  Palestine,  208-9 

Cauta,  245 

Cekedje  railway  station,  15,  251 

Censorship   of   telegrams.       See   Vasfi, 

Major 
Chataldja  lines,  16,  82,   90,   114,  204; 

retreat  to,  58,  178,  246-47  ;  Turkish 

plan  of  campaign,  79 ;  story  of  Mr. 

Seabury   Ashmead-Bartlett,    203-28  ; 

rout  checked  by  Nazim  troops,  229  ; 

the  Bulgarian  attack  on,  247-8,  263, 

267-71 ;  outbreak  of  cholera  at,  251  ; 

Bulgarians     retire     from,      284-91  ; 


position  of  the  Turkish  Army,  305, 
314-15  ;  as  a  defence,  322-23 

Chataldja,  town  of,  223,  268,  308 

Chekmedche,  Lake  of,  225,  252 

Chekmedche,  lines  of,  225 

Chekmedche  village,  265,  258,  269-60 

Cherkeskeuy,  correspondents  removed 
to,  210-15  ;  the  village  burnt,  216  ; 
flight  from,  220 

Chios,  reduction,  34 

Cholera  at  the  front,  first  news  of  out- 
break, 230  ;  outbreak  at  Chataldja, 
251 ;  at  Hademkeuy,  259-62,  284 ; 
scene  at  Chekmedche,  260-62  ;  scenes 
outside  Arnautkeuy,  282  ;  at  San 
Stefano,  284  ;  among  the  Bulgarians, 
290 

Chorion,  Turkish  retreat  on,  86  ;  the 
correspondents  established  at,  96,  98, 
99,  100,  104,  161-62,  168-70,  297- 
98 ;  Mr.  Ashmead-Bartlett's  journey 
to,  108,  130,  172,  195-96  ;  absence  of 
food  at,  134 ;  departure  from,  187  ; 
the  retreat  from,  story  of  Mr.  Seabury 
Ashmead-Bartlett,  203-228  ;  date  of 
Bulgarian  occupation,  233 ;  and  the 
Bulgarian  plan  of  campaign,  286-7 

Christian  sects  at  Jerusalem,  207-9 

Christians,  persecution  of,  in  Turkey, 
40-44 

Classo,  85 

Colenso,  85 

Committee  of  Union  and  Progress,  9, 
27 

Constantine,  41 

Constantinople,  scenes  in,  6-8,  12-21, 
capture  in  1453,  29  ;  description  to- 
day, 41-42,  68,  242 ;  cable  arrange- 
ments, 62,  183  ;  departure  of  the 
correspondents  from,  93-96 ;  refugees 
in,  134 ;  the  museum,  231-251 ;  the 
cholera  in,  281  ;  defence  of,  322 ; 
question  of  possession,  323 

Constantinople  Army  Corps,  the,  91 

Constanza  in  Roumania,  cable  arrange- 
ments at,  62 ;  by  steamer  to,  183,  184, 
196,  198-99  ;  the  cable  from,  199-200; 

Corriera  della  Sierra,  Correspondent  of 
the,  60 

Correspondents,  the,  number  in  Con- 
stantinople, 59-60,  journey  to  Chorion, 
93-96,  108-30  ;  the  camp  at  Chorion, 
98-100,  104  ;  sketches,  100-3  ;  condi- 
tions imposed  on,  106-7,  185-86  ;  at 
Lule  Burgas,  132-36  ;  Mr.  Seabury 
Ashmead-Bartlett,  ]68-70;   how   the 


INDEX 


331 


story  was  sent,  182-202  ;  removal  to 
Cherkeskeuy,  210-11,  214-15  ;  confer- 
ence with  Major  Vasfi,  243  ;  Lieut. 
Wagner's  reports,  245-247  ;  forbidden 
to  return  to  the  front,  252  ;  German 
correspondents  at  St.  George,  268  ; 
ordered  back  to  Constantinople,  263, 
266;  at  Chekmedche,  278;  war 
against  the,  292-312  ;  Nazim  and  the, 
306-8 

Craon,  M.,  2 

Crete,  annexation,  35 

Creusot  gun,  superiority,  160 

Crimean  War,  37-9 

Daily  C%ronicle,  correspondent  of  the. 
See  Donohoe,  Mr.  M.  T. 

Daily  Express,  correspondent  of  the.  See 
Ostler,  Mr.  Allan 

Daily  Mail,  correspondent  of  the.  See 
Price,  Mr.  Ward 

Daily  Mirror,  correspondent  of  the.  See 
Grant,  Mr. 

Daily  Telegraph,  reports  for  the,  2,  8,  9, 
69,  109,  169,  182-202,  259 

Damascus,  19 

DaneflF,  M.,  the  armstice,  309 

Dardanelles,  the,  82,  191 

Delijunus,  247 

Derkos,  246,  280,  301 ;  line  of  pickets 
from,  293 

Derkos  Lake,  225,  245,  247 

Disarming  civilians,  128 

Donohoe,  M.  T.,  correspondent  for  the 
Daily  Chronicle,  6,  60-61,  63-7,  71, 
73  ;  letter  from,  85  ;  departure  from 
Constantinople,  95  ;  at  the  front, 
101-2,  162 ;  sending  of  the  news, 
182-202  ;  plans,  232-33  ;  at  Rodosto, 
236,  237,  239-41 ;  leaves  for  Chataldja, 
242,  252,  255  ;  and  Major  Vasfi,  243, 
298 ;  ordered  to  return  to  Constan- 
tinople, 264 :  illness,  275,  277,  278  ; 
return  to  Constantinople,  279 ;  at 
Arnautkeuy,  281  ;  leaves  Turkey, 
296-97 

Dresden  gallery,  218 

Dubois,  General,  2 

Dysentery,  230 

Earthquake,  story  of  the,  209 
Eastern  Balkans  ceded  to  Bulgaria,  38 
Ebro  Efi"endi,  the  armstice,  309 
Edib  Bey,  the  armstice,  308 
Elassona,  77  ;  Greek  rout  reported,  84 
Emir-el-djebel,  insurrection,  35-6 


Enteric,  230 

Erzerum,  fortress  of,  39,  283 
Europeans,  attack  on,  feared,  230 
Evekli,  189,  191 

Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria,  declares  the 

independence   of    his   kingdom,    39 ; 

proclamation  of,  86,  97,  248-49  ;  and 

Constantinople,  231,  288-89 
Fitzmaurice,  Mr.,  198 
Forbes,  Mr.  Archibald,  59 
Foreign  Office,  London,  methods,  69-70 
Fouad  Bey,  Colonel  at  Lule  Burgas,  and 

Mr.  Ashmead-Bartlett,  126,  127,136- 

7,  140 
Fouad  Pasha,  14 
French  Road  Company,  110,  111,  113, 

114 
French  War  Correspondents,  60-1  ;  and 

the  Censor,  103,  215 

Galata,  195 

Galata  Bridge,  the,  64,  111 

Gallipoli,  defence,  322 

Gazi  Bajir,  271 

German  instructors  in  the  Turkish  Army, 

50,  53 
German  Press  Correspondents,  60-1 
Ghazi  Moukhtar  Pasha,  12-15,  75 
Gladstone,  Mr.,  and  the  Turkish  atroci- 
ties, 38 
Golden  Gate,  the,  231,  254 
Golden  Horn,  227 

Goltz,  F.  M.  von  der,  plans  of,  86,  99 
Gordon,  M.,  cinematographer,  109,  116, 

167 
Goupa,   dragoman,  185,  186,  187,  205-6, 

215,  228,  252,  255,  256,  274,  279 
Grant,  Mr.,  correspondent  of  the  Daily 

Mirrm;  60,  255-56 
Gras  rifles,  235 

Graves,  Mr.,  Times  correspondent,  85 
Greco-Turkish  war  1897,  6,  32,  50,  51 
Greece,    war  declared,  Oct.    18th,    28 ; 

independence    declared,     1830,     34  ; 

army    of,    83 ;    refusal   to    sign    the 

armistice,  311-12 
Greeks  in  Macedonia,  45  ;   advance  on 

Classo,  85  ;  in  Palestine,  208-9 
Grey,  Sir  Edward,  Turkish  reliance  on, 

25 

Hademkeuy,  lines  of,  224-25,  248, 
256,  263,  268,  284,  fugitives  at, 
229-30  ;  cholera  scenes,  259-62,  284, 
290  ;  town  shelled,  276-77  ;  Nazim's 
headquarters  at,  299,  300,  304,  306 


332 


INDEX 


Hadji,  Albanian  groom,  176,  212,  216, 

222,  226,  228,  252 
Halli  Sherif,  the,  reading  of  the,  35 
Hamidieh,  271 

Hatti  Firman,  the,  of  1839,  47 
Herzegovina,  part  ceded  to  Servia,  39 
Hippodrome,    the   Constantinople,   41, 

227 
Horses  for  the  army,  17-18 

Ibrahim,  35 

Illustration  (The),  4,  60 

Ismet  Bey,  jouniey  to  Chorlou,  106, 
108-9,  112,  113,  115,  117,  118,  124- 
30;  and  Abdullah,  131,  133;  and 
Mr.  Ashmead-Bartlett.  134,  135,  136, 
297,  299,  300,  306  ;  at  Lule  Burgas, 
136,  137,  139,  140,  141,  142,  145-47, 
162,  171,  176, 177  ;  at  Sakiskeuy,  149, 
151,  165,  166,  168-70  ;  the  second  day 
at  Lule  Burgas,  153,  157,  158,  ;  at 
Chorlou,  185,  186,  206-7  ;  stories  told 
by,  207-10 

Istrandza  mountains,  the,  84,  88 

Italian  Press  correspondents,  60 

Italy  and  Turkey.  See  Turko-Italian 
War 

Izzet  Bey,  Colonel,  and  the  war  corres- 
pondents, 11,  71-74,  104,  108,  110, 
optimism  of,  20,  86-87  :  purchase  of 
a  motor-car,  64-65 ;  after  Kirk  Kilisse, 
86 

Izzet  Pasha,  243 

Jalos,  village,  116 

James,  Mr.  Lionel,  correspondent  of 
The  Times,  6,  60-61,  66,  71,  73,  85  ; 
departure  from  Constantinople,  95, 
296,  297  ;  at  the  front,  101  ;  buying 
a  car,  109,  111,  115,  116,  ;  at  Lule 
Burgas,  161-62  ;  sending  of  the  news, 
182-202 ;  reasons  for  leaving  the  front, 
197-98  ;  at  Rodosto,  233,  236,  239 

Janissaries,  the,  29-34 

Japanese,  European-trained  officers,  56 

Jenidzi,  91,  133 

Jerusalem,  Christian  sects  at,  207-9 

Kalikratia  village,  114 
Kandia,  insurrection  in,  35-36 
Kara  Burun,  268 
Karagach,  91,  92,  144,  153,  155 
Kars,  defence  of,  13,  14,  37 
Kavakli,  91,  133 

Kiamil  Pasha,  Grand  Vizier,  15  ;  and 
the  correspondents,  74-75 


Kirk  Kilisse,  news  of  the  defeat,  11, 
84-87,  90,  96,  97,  109 ;  fighting  at, 
75,  82,  132,  287  ;  operations  leading 
to  the  capture  of,  87-90 ;  first 
authoritative  account,  98 

Kretiz-Zeituruj,  the,  94 

Kriegelstein,  Baron  von,  60,  103 

Krupp  guns  at  Chataldja,  160,  269 

Kuchuk-Chekmedche,  village  of,  113, 
252,  255,  274 

Kumanova,  84,  85 

Kumburgas,  village  of,  116 

Kurd  Dere,  271 

Kurds  of  the  Caucasus,  31-32,  42,  207 

Law  of  the  Vilayets  of  1880,  8,  13,  22 

Lawson,  Mr.  Harry,  2 

Leighton,  Sir  Bryan.  106,  107  ;  journey 
to  Chorlou,  109,  116,  117,  118,  119, 
125, 126,  133  ;  at  Sakiskeuy,  167,  170, 
196   201 

London,  Conference  of  (1830),  34  ;  1913, 
312 

Lowther,  Sir  Gerard,  8,  69 

Lule  Burgas,  15,  67,  78,  79,  81  ;  the 
army  at,  82,  85,  86 ;  operations 
before,  87-92  ;  retreat  of  women  and 
children,  96-97  ;  the  great  battle 
started,  106-7  ;  the  correspondents 
at,  132,  133,  134,  135  ;  the  first  day, 
139-51 ;  second  day,  152-70  ;  rout  of 
the  Turkish  Army,  171-81;  Mr. 
Ashmead-Bartlett'.s  diary,  195-96 ; 
news  of  the  disaster,  224-25,  230; 
efiect  on  Bulgaria's  movements,  285- 
291 

Lule  Burgas-Baba  Eski-Viza  lines,  99 

MacCulloch,  Mr.,  201 

Macedonia,  law  of  1880,  proposal  to 
apply,  8,  13,  22,  46  ;  importance  of 
Macedonian  question,  24-25,  27-28  ; 
repression  in,  42-45 ;  the  interna- 
tional gendarmerie,  46-47  ;  recruits 
from,  315 ;  position  in  regard  to 
Turkey,  321-22 

Macksoud  Bey,  219 

Magersfontein,  85 

Mahmoud  Mukhtar,  command,  82,  84, 
88,  91,  144,  150,  270  ;  retreat  on 
Viza,  91-92;  with  the  3rd  Army 
Corps,  153,  155,  159-60,  163,  164, 
172 ;  wounded,  282 

Mahmoud  II.,  the  Janissaries  dis- 
banded, 31,  34  ;  and  Mehemet  Ali, 
34-35  ;   the  Halli  Sherif,   35-36 


INDEX 


333 


Mahmudiyeh,  271 

Mahommedans,    and   Abdul   Aziz,  37  ; 

persecution   of,  44 ;    and  the  Young 

Turk  policy,  47-49 
Marion,  General,  1 
Maritza,  the,  323 
"  Marmora,"  mail  boat,  238 
Marmora,  Sea  of,  191,  255,  268 
Martini  rifles,  235 
"Masudia,"  battleship,  233-39 
Mauser  rifles,  10,  54,  180 
Media,  84 

Mehemet  Ali,  34-35 
Midhat  Pasha,  38,  42 
Midia,  Port  of,  88 
Mobilisation,  16-17 
Monastir,  44,  244 
Mongols,  types,  40 
Montenegro,  war  declared  by,  9,  14,  23  ; 

territory  ceded  to,  39  ;  army  of,  83  ; 

rout   reported,   84 ;   armstice  signed, 

311-12 
Morning    Post,   correspondent   of   the. 

See  Pilcher,  Mr. 
Morton,  301-4 
Moukbill  Bey,  306 
Murad,  Sultan,  38 
Muradli,  233,  237 

Mustafa  Pasha,  army  at,  6,  79,  83,  84 
Mustafiz,  the,  81 

Nakashkeuy,  271 

Napoleon  III.,  37 

Navarino,  Turkish  defeat,  34 

Nazim  Pasha,  war  minister,  10,  11,  58  ; 
and  the  correspondents,  75  ;  on  the 
situation,  78,  79,  242-43;  expected 
at  Chorlou,  133,  134 ;  retreat  to 
Chataldja,  214 ;  at  Hademkeuy,  230, 
300,  304,  306 ;  order  concerning 
foreigners,  264,  265,  279,  280,  299, 
306-8  ;  supreme  command,  270 ;  the 
new  troops,  282-83,  314-15;  the 
armistice,  308-12  ;  transport  difficul- 
ties, 317-18 

Nicholas  I.,  36-37 

Nicholson,  cinematograph er,  255-56 

Nineteenth  Century,  article  by  M.  Bennet 
cited,  186 

Nizam  Army,  the,  31,  34,  80,  81,  225, 
229 

Normand,  M.,  4 

OSMAN,  31,  33 

Ostler,  Mr.  Allan,  60,  102-3 

Ostrorog,  Count  L^on,  8,  9,  12,  13,  14 


Othman,  321 

Otter,  Mr.  Prank,  258-9 

Ottoman  Bank,  the,  253 

Ottoman  News  Agency,  methods,  10,  20, 

250-52,  311 
Ottoman  Public  Debt,  108 
Ouchy,  6,  28,  49,  60 

Pan-Islamism,  policy  of  Abdul  Hamid, 
42 

Pech,  M.,  9 

Pera,  56,  63,  227,  297  ;  war  prepara- 
tions in,  15,  16,  18,  57  ;  escape  of 
governor  of,  209  ;  a  Greek  procession 
in,  249 

Pera  Palace  Hotel,  7,  66,  68,  75,  85,  97, 
98,  106,  110,  196,  198,  201,  227,  241, 
243,  253,  296 

Persian  invasion  of  Turkey,  36 

Pilcher,  Mr.,  60 

Pink  'un  (The),  258,  259 

Plevna,  defence  of,  33,  38 

Poincare,  M.,  proposal  to  the  Powers, 
22,  24 

Popoflr,  General,  287,  289-90 

Port  Arthur,  134 

Powers,  the,  peace  efpjrts,  8,  22-27 

Press,  Turkish,  methods  of  dissimula- 
tion, 10,  20,  83-84,  250-52,  311 

Price,  Mr.  Ward,  60,  61,  66,  109 

Raymond,  M.,  60 

"Red  Crescent,"  301 

Redifs,  the,  description,  15,  16,  80-82, 
150 

Reichspost  (The),  Lieut.  Wagner's  re- 
ports, 244-49 

Reinhardt,  "Miracle,"  102 

Remzi,  Colonel,  defence  of  Rodosto, 
234-35 

Reshid  Pasha,  return  from  Ouchy,  6  . 
the  armistice,  309-313 

Rhodes,  30 

Road-building  under  the  Pashas,  43^4 

Roads,  Turkish,  110-30,  222-23 

Rodes,  M.,  60 

Rodosto,  82,  99,  108,  162 ;  the  steamer 
from,  183-88,  194-96;  Mr.  Lionel 
James  at,  197,  210,  233  ;  capture  of, 
234-41 

Rodosto-Muradli  road,  234-37 

Roman  remains  in  Thrace,  41 

Roosevelt  Roughriders,  94 

Roumania,  189 ;  autonomy  established, 
39 

Roumelia,  Eastern,  39,  137 


334 


INDEX 


Russell,  William,  59 

Russia,  Turkish  mistrust  of,  14,  26-27, 
103-4  ;  note  to  the  Balkans,  23,  26  ; 
war  of  1828,  34  ;  war  of  1863,  36-39  ; 
war  of  1877,  38 ;  the  war  cor- 
respondent, 103-4 

Russo-Japanese  War,  56,  71,  101 

Sadler,  Dr.,  85 
Sage,  Mr.  Le,  3 
St.  George,    village  of,  226,  256,  257, 

262-64 
St.  Petersburg,  scenes,  26-27 
St.  Sofia,  Bulgariaand,  16-17,  37, 231, 288 
Sakiskeuy  village,    Abdullah's  position 

at,  92,   152,   153,   154,   159,    365-70. 

Mr.    Ashmead-Bartlett    at,    147-51, 

195-96  ;  the  flight  fiom,  171-81 
Sali  Pasha,  cavalry  of,   139,  141,   142, 

146,  151,  159,  233 
Salonica,  244 
Samarkoff,  269 
San   Stefano,    33,    64,    111,    192,    254; 

Treaty  of,  38,  39  ;  cholera  camp,  284 
Sarai,  210 

SavoflF,  General,  309 
Scott,  Sir  W.,  quoted,  19 
Scutari,  312 
Seidler,  86,  96,  135 
Seraskerat,  the,  9-10 
Serres,  77 
Servia,  peace  efforts  of  the  Powers,  8  ; 

demobilisation   demanded,    13  ;    war 

declared  on  17th  Oct.,  28 ;  rising  in 

1875,  38-39 ;  army,  strength  of,  83  ; 

at  Muradli,    233 ;    armistice   signed, 

311-12 
Sevastopol,  37 
Sheik-ul-Islam,  31,  37 
Shefket  Torgut  Pasha,  command  of  the 

2nd  Army  Corps,  82,  91,  92,  144, 153  ; 

attack  by,  155-57,  164  ;  at  Sakiskeuy, 

169-70 
Silistria,  37 
Silivri,    village   of,    116-18,    121,    122, 

124,  189,  204,  309 
Sinekli,  220,  221,  246 
Sipahis,  the,  31 
Slavonic  Society,  27 
Slavs,  "their  hour  for  fighting,"  149 
Smyrna,  troops  from,  79,  82,  243,  283 
Sofia,  40,  45-46,  67,  68 
South  African  War,  46,  72,  101 
Stamboul,  military  preparations,  10-11, 

15-19,  57;  description,  42,  56,  111, 

192,  242,  285,  301 ;  departure  of  the 


Correspondents,  96 ;  the  refugees, 
99,  125,  128,  137,  217,  229  ;  return 
of  Mr.  Ashmead-Bartlett,  195;  the 
hills  of  the  dead,  226-27;  cholera 
arrangements,  261. 

Stormberg,  85 

Strandja,  heights  of,  245 

Streater,  Mr.,  assistance  given  to  Mr. 
Ashmead-Bartlett,  188-93,  233-40 

Struma  River,  army  of  the,  77 

Suleiman  the  Magnificent,  30 

Sweet  Waters,  the,  301 

Syria,  annexation,  35 

Takfa-Kalfakkui  line,  247 

Tartarli,  150 

Tchaprachikoff,  M.,  309 

Telad,  story  of,  134-35 

Temps  (Le),  60 

Territorial  Forces,  the,  325 

Thessaly,  Army  of,  77 

Thrace,  ruin  in,  41,  326 ;  Bulgarian 
tactics  in,  80  ;  defence  of,  322,  323 

Times  (The),  war  correspondent.  See 
James,  Mr.  Lionel ;  article  quoted, 
26-27 

Tokatlian's  restaurant,  219,  310 

Tokio,  71 

Touraine,  manoeuvres,  2 

Trebizond,  troops  from,  79,  243,  283 

Tripoli,  the  massacre  in  the  Oasis,  4, 
14 

Turco-Italian  war,  4,  21,  49,  103,  207 

Turk  Bey,  vUlage  of,  92,  144,  163 

Turkey,  reply  to  the  collective  Note  by 
the  Powers,  27-28 ;  declaration  of 
war,  28,  84  ;  military  history,  29-49  ; 
revolution  of  1848,  36  ;  revolution  of 
1908,  46-49 

Turkish  Army — Army  of  Thrace,  11, 
81-82,  86 ;  reforms  by  Young  Turk 
party,  50-58  ;  ■  plan  of  campaign,  77- 
80,  87-89;  strength  of  the  forces, 
80-81 ;  organisation,  81-82  ;  absence 
of  organised  commissariat,  99,  162- 
53,  179-81 ;  defeat  of  the  1st  Army 
Corps,  133 ;  absence  of  medical 
service,  148,  152-63,  179-81,  220-21 ; 
the  2nd  Army  Corps  at  Lule  Burgas, 
149-50,  162-70  ;  lack  of  ammunition, 
153,  154,  156,  157,  158,  179-81; 
rout  after  Lule  Burgas,  171-81 ; 
bravery  of  the  soldier,  178-79 ; 
retreat  to  Chataldja,  203-28;  the 
new  battalions,  229,  282-83,  314-15 

Tursunkeuy,  304 


INDEX 


335 


Ulemas,  the,  31 
Uskub,  44,  77,  244 

Varna,  bombardment,  83 

Vasfi  Bey,  Major,  code  of  regulations, 
72,  185-86  ;  and  the  correspondents, 
103-7,  300,  306;  and  the  Russian 
correspondent,  104  ;  takes  the  corres- 
pondents to  Cherkeskeuy,  210-11, 
214-16  ;  conference  at  the  Pera 
Palace  Hotel,  243 ;  interview  with 
Mr.  Ashmead-Bartlett,  296-300 

Vienna,  5-6 

Viza,  144,  150,  155,  159 ;  retreat  on, 
91,  92;  outbreak  of  cholera,  230; 
Turkish  victory  north  of,  244 

Vodena  River,  army  of  the,  77 

VVagnek,  Lieut.,  reports,  244-49 

War  Office,    Constantinople,    methods, 

9-11,    20,    53-58,  69,  71-74,  83-84, 

227,  311 


Warships    at    Constantinople, 

267,  271-72 
Waterloo,  173 
William,  Emperor,  46 


230-31, 


Yasoren,  270,  282,  284 

Yavir  Pasha,  command,  82,  91,  144, 
270 

Yemen,  troops  from  the,  243 

Yenikoei,  245 

Young  Turks,  the  movement,  6-10,  39  ; 
and  the  Constitution,  36  ;  and  Abdul 
Aziz,  38  ;  revolution  of  1908,  46-49  ; 
contemplated  reform  of  the  army, 
50-58,  207  ;  Abdul  Hamid  and,  134  ; 
280,  304-5 

Zekki  Pasha,  85 

Zia  Pasha   at   Chorlou,    134 ;    at   Lule 

Burgas,  135  ;  the  armistice,  309 
Zweiter,  Major  von,  60,  103 


THE   END. 


Richard  Clay  and  Sons,  Ltd., 

brunswick  street,  stamford  street,  s.k., 

and  bungay,  suffolk. 


259977 


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